Ghost Flowers
by Shannykitty
Summary: I love her, I love her so much I feel like my heart could fly out of my chest whenever I hear her voice. But it is only this, her voice, what I have to warm my heart with, it is her that has given me a new view on life, but I can't help but wonder, are you really there? There is one thing I am certain of though, thanks to you I have pledged to love and laugh until the day I die.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid nor any of it's characters. This is purely a work of fiction and has no relation to Crypton or it's releases.**

I have tried romance and experimenting, but it has proven most difficult. While appreciating something good in a person is easy, finding someone amusing enough for my taste has been quite the challenge.

I have committed the mistake of approaching subjects similar to my ideal, but it dies so easily, my interest. It just takes a look of lust from them, a lack of poetry in their clumsy romantic actions; it makes me halt my efforts and run away from them, almost shaking, with the pressure on my chest and the hollow feeling in my stomach renewed.

It may be just me being bitter and conceited, but how I hate to see instinct overcome rationality, there is no love in such actions, and I am not one to share a moment just out of pure curiosity.

My temper is unsuitable for a formal relationship, yet I do not wish to have love deprived trysts, for I am at my deepest, a romantic. It would be impossible for me not to feel tainted and hurt by such things. So if none of that works, the safest thing would be to stay alone no? Most certainly, so that's what I do. But I can't help but wonder, why is it that despite it being the best solution I feel such a melancholic pain in my heart?

It has been like this ever since I have met that person, that voice, that ghost haunting our mansion's irritatingly flowery garden. Ever since I started speaking to her, my mind has been musing more and more about love, humanity, and the tragedy they seem to represent. She has made me think though, and I believe I indeed have yet to understand why I become so vexed by her ranting, perhaps it's the intonation, and perhaps I yearn for an answer to my tortured soul's pleas. I know I am deeply in love with this ghost, and I am certain I will never have this kind of connection with anyone else, so I suffer, my heart begs for the company of a being that is never there, yet always present in that damned garden.

The first time we met was during our family's annual gathering for December, they seemed to find some sort of odd pleasure into visiting the old building that our ancestors left for us in rural lands, the thing can barely stand and looks like a sad Victorian structure, it emits strange sounds when wild gusts of wind hit its walls or windows, and the electricity system never seems to be stable. But I suppose it does have a nostalgic charm to it, being so beautifully placed in the middle of a forest, surrounded by a clear and calm lake, if only I could be left alone to enjoy these sights without the constant noise my dear relatives make, it is something to ponder on really, how can people talk so much and yet speak of nothing relevant at all.

I had escaped the family reunion for a little alone leisure time, as much as I loved my little cousins I could not stand to play babysitter, let their own parent's take care of their childish caprices and romps. By going through one of the backdoors of the mansion I arrived at the garden, so very colorful, I had always loved it and liked spending time singing or reading there, but this particular day I noticed a white rose patch of noticeable size I had never seen before. As I walked into it, a strange feeling of warmth enveloped me, it was as if I was being taken into a lover's arms after a terribly tiring day, consumed by this feeling I impulsively decided to take a nap there and rested my head on the softest patch of soil I could find.

I was already losing myself into the dreamland when a low and soft feminine voice spoke to me. "How very wonderful it is to see you here, I was starting to worry I may never see your amusing existence again" Surprisingly enough I didn't start nor did I open my eyes, I just answered as if it was natural of me to do so. "I am hardly someone amusing, I have little entertainment to offer you, I would say I am very pleased to hear your voice again, for some reason I feel like I have done so before, but reason tells me we have yet to know each other, no?"

"Oh nonsense, you are the most charming visitor I have every year, it is only you that sings and sighs so beautifully after all!" Exclaimed the voice with a pleasant tone. "Oh and we have met, I just never dared to introduce myself, but I would consider it really unnecessary"

"I suppose such things as introductions are only part of the inflation of our never-ending ego"

"Now, ego is commonly known as the selfish side of the mind, yet it must be understood that ego is the consciousness of oneself, without it there is nothing but instinct, nothing but animal existence. We seek balance and rapture, yet we mistake dullness for perfection."

"I think, therefore I am."

"Are you? You seem quite lost and troubled dearest."

Was I? I had never asked myself that, I had only thought that my apathy was a natural consequence of me being in the middle of what the adults thought as the dreaded teenage age. Regardless of how her words stirred confusion in me, I still felt peace, I could have sworn I had been resting on her lap this whole time, yet I still felt compelled to answer her, if only to listen to her beautiful voice a little more.

"There seems to be a sense to everything, a most logical order to the trifling and not so trifling matters of life. Every deviation and every dull knowledge of this world's unwritten laws has been seen, archived and reviewed way too many times. Yet I don't understand any of it, I feel so empty with all these rules, perhaps I am just too dumb and young."

"I believe," she said. "That you are too smart to be satisfied with what is considered normal and pleasant in this world dear, you need to let yourself live a little more mindlessly"

"Wouldn't it be vain to just live without a reason? What's the purpose of such a thing? Is there any artistic sense to that?"

"I must ask, what is the world if not a theatre, and our lives the play?"

"Whatever do you mean?" I thought I had understood what she was trying to say but something told me I needed to ask more.

"I don't know" She said laughing a little. "My dearest, I'm just trying to make your life more enjoyable by sharing ideas that have served to calm my own uneasiness in the past"

"Do you not ever become uneasy anymore?"

"I pledged to love and laugh until the day I die"

I had wanted to ask more, to keep listening to this beautiful voice, but my mother's call interrupted my conversation with this familiar stranger. As I opened my eyes I found myself alone, surrounded by the white roses, perplexed I figured I had been dreaming and willed myself to go back to my family's reunion. But as I left the white rose patch and exited the garden, I couldn't help but feel she was still there, and my heart cried for her embrace.

* * *

**A/N: This is my first fanfiction and I would like to note that while I am not too horrible at it, I am not a native English speaker, feel free to correct my spelling or phrasing should you find the need to do so. I hope you enjoy this, wrote it on a night of insomnia and heavy college-work procrastination. Reviews are appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

I was certain that what I had just experienced had been a product of my own somnolence and disregard of social tradition, but I couldn't help but feel irritated at my mother's interruption, I was having a quite pleasant exchange with the beloved voice in my head after all.

I had no time to ponder on what we had just discussed though, for my little cousins wasted no time into making me their very own personal dressing toy for the rest of the evening as soon as they saw me, effectively blocking any abstract thinking from my mind. Upon arriving home, I was more tired than I would have liked or expected to be that day, and after dragging my feet to my room I just looked into my dressing table's mirror, groaned at the tangled mess my long teal hair had become, and flopped myself into bed right after changing out of formal wear. But this beautiful voice did not leave my thoughts for many days after; for being a production of my own mind, I had to admit that it had proven to be a very vexing conversation, it gave me something to reflect on. Unknowingly, something began to change inside me ever since that day.

We seldom visited that old mansion, so I did not really have much opportunity to make acquaintances with the voice in the garden again, which I admit filled me with a small amount of despair. What we had discussed had been so wilfully taken out there, and yet it seemed to be terribly spot on relating to my current daily thoughts. I had recently become seventeen, and while I accept that at this age one is probably overridden with disruptive hormones and self-centered ideas, it was my belief that I was a bit more mentally listless than most of my peers.

As a single child I enjoyed my parent's attention all to myself, I was terrible at sharing and grew up as a conceited girl up until puberty. By the time I was in middle school I was sent off to a swell academy for girls in the city, where I learned what not being the center of attention meant, which led to me throwing insufferable tantrums over the phone with my parents. Thankfully they made no heed of my ranting at that time, and I learned what being in society meant, I realized there are certain patterns of behavior one should follow in order to be accepted, and discovered the joys of being popular among my companions.

That was when my gloomy personality began to develop though, I found myself to be an excellent actress, and really stood out in the acting club, which I very much enjoyed attending; being required to have varied personalities and perform with different artistic masks, all for the sake of entertainment. I applied this to my daily life as well, I enjoyed acting like a different person according to the situation and people present at a time, it may sound weird but I found it interesting how one could have different ways of acting and still feel natural about it, also the reactions of people to one's different personas are something that never seizes to amuse me even up to this day.

The thing is, it is then when I realized how shallow life was, how easy it was to acquire whatever you desired, at first I thought I had found a most valuable secret of life and was overjoyed at the thought of having the world at my feet. But I soon found myself growing apathetic, I willed myself to still act properly most of the time, but I grew more and more troubled as I began thinking of my living as something horribly superficial.

I figured a good solution would be to become a more virtuous person, so I strived to acquire some sort of genius of any kind, wolfing down books and engaging in varied cultural and sportive activities, which served to effectively distract me and become happier up until my entrance to high school. By then I was given the luxury to choose the school I wanted to attend and I picked the same my best friends had, if only to keep acquaintances, or to have some sort of social security I suppose. Both my parents received wonderful proposals from international business companies though, and I soon found myself changing schools almost as often and conveniently as I changed my acting.

We eventually settled down somewhere in the west, where I found myself to be liked as much as in any other place I had been before, the constant travelling I had done made people even more curious about befriending me and I had no trouble getting accepted into popular social circles again. All of these delightful situations made me more aware of the feelings and ideas I had back in middle school though, and I found all the dandy things in life I had just lived to be dense once again. The issue now was finding meaning to life again, I was starting to feel plastic and uninspired, the more I read, the more I engaged in art and society I tried to be, the more depression broke its way into my mind. I tried blaming it on my age, on the media and the influences of people in my life, but I understood I had to resign and let patience be my friend, surely inspiration would find its way again.

So I became a full time actress, playing whatever role was convenient at all times, despite my lack of will, I found joy and solace in art and in the exploration of new emotions and activities. I picked up music and literature as my new sanity guardians, whenever I would feel troubled I had them at my disposal to unplug and reset my mind and heart as many times as necessary, even though the distress would always stay at the back of my head.

I admit part of me was heavily disappointed in myself, it was a ridiculous duality sometimes, the need to break out of life's order opposed to the need to fit in society, made me feel hypocritical at times, luckily I knew better than to engage in self-loathing. That's why the voice in the garden invaded my thoughts with more than just adoration for its beauty, the little words she spoke broke through my carefully crafted ideals like bullets on paper, it seemed as if she had the answers I yearned for, and knew how to inject sense back into my existence. I was so enthralled by this new ideas and emotions that I did not foresee how much a mad girl I was to become in the following days.

Days had gone by quite uneventfully and while I did not forget about my conversation with the garden's voice, I kept performing my daily activities as if my mind was not overloaded with her affirmations. One Friday, during the practice of a new play for school, I received a call from my mother, asking me to go straight home after I was done with club activities. It upset me slightly that I would not be able to go out with my friends as I had already made plans for earlier that day, but I had to excuse myself anyway to attend to whatever my mother would need me for, it would have had to be important for her to call during what would still be considered school hours after all.

"Oh that is terrible, I had planned on taking you to a very special place this afternoon after hanging out with the guys" said my current study subject, I mean boyfriend, with a very disappointed face.

"We can always do that later, don't worry about it" I said using a sweet tone. "I'm sure the place won't move, let us schedule it for tomorrow, yes?"

"I'm afraid it would be a little difficult" said him with an exasperated movement of his hands. "You see, I doubt you would be allowed to go to such a place without an incredibly smart excuse to be honest"

"Jesus you make it sound so terribly shady, just where did you want to go?"

He nervously looked to the side for a bit. "Well I had wanted to use hanging out with our friends as an excuse to not tell your parents where I was taking you." A somewhat smug smile presented itself on his lips as he turned to look at me and held my hands. "We have been together for about a month now haven't we? It surely would be nice to know each other better wouldn't it? So I was thinking," he shuffled his navy blue hair a bit awkwardly "maybe you would like to visit me?"

"Visit you where darling?" I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but feigned ignorance nonetheless.

He winked at me in a stupid fashion. "Why, the place where the magic happens of course." His room.

I just stared at him without expression, as much as I found him to be very charming, he proved to be no different from any other I had dated on a whim before. He had joined the acting club and caught my attention by performing quite delightfully, made me think that perhaps I had found a poetic soul that would share fancy views and artistic entertainment, he was also quite good looking, so when he asked me out I accepted out of pure curiosity and amusement. But as days went by, he had shown himself as nothing but a regular popular guy, if only his affectations were entertaining when he spoke, I was already disappointed even before he had suggested sleeping with him, his proposal only made me find him absolutely uninteresting right then.

"Oh, sorry Kaito I'm afraid I will have to decline" I said, freeing my hands from his grasp.

"Oh don't be like that! Miku you know I find you crazy gorgeous! See, you are upset now. Dearest I swear I would be most gentle with you. Besides ask any girl I have dated before you, the ones I am still friends with will tell you, I am quite great at it you know" he added with what I found to be a sleazy smile.

"I don't want to sleep with you"

His face fell in annoyance and confusion "Then why even date me at all?"

"I did not know that's all there was to relationships"

"Don't be so irrational, of course not, but it is not too soon you know, sexuality is after all, an important part in a relationship. I'll fill the bed with rose petals, what do you say?" So dense.

I was trying really hard not to let annoyance slip into my tone. "Sorry I really don't want to"

"Well okay, I understand, I can wait a little longer, you are worth that much." He said grabbing my chin and leaning in for a kiss, a kiss I did not want as I turned my head away. "Unless you mean like, never."

I did not answer and just looked at him, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty, the guy was not exactly ill intentioned but I just did not have such interests, I did reflect on what he had said earlier though, why did I even start dating him at all?

"I see. I'm sorry Miku, you are a really great girl but this is something important for me, I don't think I want a relationship like that. I just hope you don't think me shallow, please understand" he said with a bit of sadness on his eyes.

"I understand." I had to let out a sigh I had been containing before continuing. "Sorry to have made you waste your time"

He looked a bit shocked but just nodded and turned away, I looked at my phone's screen and saw it was already time for students to go home, muttered a good bye and left for my house. I was a bit disappointed by the whole situation, but as much as I was upset at him for having considered me a potential sexual entertainment thing, I was annoyed at myself as well for having jumped into yet another relationship out of boredom, possibly hurting the guy a bit. I quickly dismissed the whole situation like I did with most things in life I disliked though, couldn't be helped now, I was sure he would be alright.

I arrived home and greeted my mother with a kiss on the cheek and looked at her in expectation, surely she had something to discuss, and I had been a good girl and came home right away just as she had asked me to do just to listen to whatever she would say.

"How was school dear?" She asked with a pleasant smile before saying anything else.

"Good, the play is coming along quite well"

"Surely they gave you the main role again right?"

"You know me"

"Of course." she laughed a bit and continued "Oh dear I'm sorry I'm going to have to ask you to cancel your activities with the acting club though"

"Why is that?" I said furrowing my brows.

"We are moving yet again" she said with half a smile, half a sigh.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry I'm sure you had settled here already and here we are, already moving so soon."

"That's quite alright" and convenient I supposed, Kaito and I shared too many friends after all, it would have been awkward among the social group. "Where are we moving?"

"Your father and I looked into making some investments in the countryside, where the old mansion is at, there are some really promising industries there but the deals and administration require our presence quite a lot. So we are living in the mansion, at least that part is exciting no?" She smiled as she said all this, but then changed to a condescending tone and look. "I'm sorry, surely you will miss your friends, and your boyfriend."

"We broke up."

"Oh. I'm sorry dear"

"That's okay. The mansion you said? Is the thing not falling apart though?"

"We have already made arrangements to make it perfect for when we arrive. There is also a really nice private school there, I think you would like it, they make art of real importance, they also teach French and Italian. We already enrolled you there, but as always you are free to find another school should that one not be of your liking"

"I see, sounds good mother. When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow. Sorry dear I know it's sudden, don't worry though, the place has already been remodeled, old furniture has been changed and basic electronics installed already."

"Mother, what about the garden? Please tell me you kept it as it was" I pleaded. I had become a little scared when she said the place had been remodeled, part of my acceptance of such a sudden change was the fact that _she_ was going to be there, I could just feel it, and my heart beat wildly upon this realization.

"I know it is your favorite place, it has been left untouched"

"Great." I smiled, genuinely. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I'll start packing my most basic belongings then"

"Certainly dear, the rest will be taken there by a moving agency in the following days"

My mind was going crazy, it was a bit upsetting to leave the city yes, but the mere thought of hearing that voice again, of being enveloped by that warm feeling again had me absolutely overjoyed. I smiled at the recognition of my own feelings, I found them funny and silly, getting so excited over something that I had probably just dreamt. But no, it was perfectly understandable for me to be like this, it was after all, the promise of a discovery, I knew my melancholy would go away upon listening to her again. I laughed at the thought of being in love with an affectation of my mind, but as I was right then, there was nothing I could find most becoming. I was sure that I would find solace in that garden, and my whole being overflowed with happiness at this knowledge.

* * *

**A: Thank you guys for all the follows, reviews and favorites! They really make me want to continue this story (:**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always feel free to make any suggestions or corrections.**


	3. Chapter 3

The place was absolutely gorgeous, every single disruption in its architecture and distasteful unpainted wall was gone now, whatever they had done to the place had the effect of making it incredibly beautiful. New pleasant tapestries and furniture were present in our new accommodations, I had to admit that I was overly pleased with the result of the mansion's remodeling work, beauty was after all, one of the things in life I found dearest. Holding back my excitement over the opportunity to dash straight into the back garden, I held my valises tight against my legs, as to keep myself from running. I kept a polite gait as I walked through the immense reception, attempting to make a good mental map of our new home, without unsightly amounts of people in it I had to take note on how enormous the place truly was.

"Your father and I decided on taking the main room for ourselves, as it is very understandable for us to do so. There are many available rooms for you and I personally found the one on the far side of the hallway very charming, but I figured you would like to have a view to the garden you love so much and had the center room accommodated for you, arrangements can always be made though." Said my mother as she motioned for a servant to take care of our belongings, looking at my puzzled expression she tittered a little and told me "I thought having a few maids and such things would be fitting for a place such as this one. So, what do you think Miku?"

"I figure it would go well in a theatrical sense at least yes. As for the place, it is charming indeed, truth be told I had half-expected to find more of the old furniture loitering around, this looks really swell mother, it's overjoying to live in such a nice place."

"I'm glad you find it to be so," she said gently "would you like to visit the surroundings somewhere around this afternoon? I heard word on a wonderful theatre you know, as well as a pretty lavish library around downtown, the sceneries around your school are quite lovely too."

"I would love to, perhaps tomorrow though, it was an overly long flight you know?" I said, trying to sound as tired as possible, truth is I could not think of anything else but meeting that girl again.

"Of course dear, I understand." She said lightly stroking my hair. "Well then, I'm sorry to leave you so soon but I should go meet your father at our associates' office, we'll be having dinner afterwards and won't be back until late night but my cellphone will be on at all times should you need anything. Feel free to ask the servants for whatever you require too." She started picking up documents from a small valise she had kept with her, placed them inside a swank handbag, and stuffed keys on the back compartment. "I'll see you later Miku, love you."

I hugged her and pecked her cheek "Sure thing mother, love you too."

The instant she left, it dawned on me that I had the whole place available for my exploration, and while I had been excessively giddy about getting lost in the white roses patch a few moments ago, I felt extremely unconfident about it now. I mentally reprimanded myself for such mousy behavior but contented myself with arranging my belongings first.

I walked up the main staircase and headed for what my mother said would be fit as my room, upon entering it I found everything to be delightfully decorated in oak and ivory fittings, the turquoise furnishings were somewhat uncreative but I found them pleasant nonetheless. There was a spinet piano placed on the far left side and a Spanish guitar hanging from a holder right next to it, as well as an atril for me to make use of, a spacious closet lay with its door open to the far right side. A tall queen bed embellished by white and brown coverings stood to the left, an oak study desk was placed next to it, and a window in front of it provided a welcome view of the flowers I was so fond of. The folly idea of her being able to see and hear me from there enthralled me for a moment, but I quickly dismissed it, if only to keep my sanity.

As I started arranging my clothing inside the carpeted closet I began pondering on how I would approach the place that had haunted my thoughts for so many days, questions plagued my mind; should I sing a gentle song for her? Should I bring an instrument along? Would dressing up be appropriate? Perhaps a humble and quieter approach would be better, I wanted to hear her voice so badly! But my heart shyly accelerated its pulse every time I willed myself to go greet the voice I was enamored of. How folly the whole situation was! The urge of going inside the garden was unbearable yet I felt absolutely terrified of doing it, I frowned at my own uneasiness, was this how being in love felt? I had never felt anything like it before.

I found that train of thought interrupted by the sound of music in a distant room inside the mansion, it was somewhat unfamiliar to me but I was sure I had heard it before, driven by my curiosity I headed towards the sound until I arrived at what seemed to be the kitchen, from where the music sounded the loudest. I pushed the doors open to find a slender dark haired man dancing quite energetically with blonde haired girl, their steps looked absolutely boisterous but fantastic nonetheless, this was swing music I noticed.

"Oh my," I said smiling quite entertained "what is this?"

"'Tis foxtrot darling! Come join us, Leon needs a dancing partner and Avanna refuses to join with him, always the apathetic one that gal" said the man with a jolly laugh.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly do it!" I almost tripped on my own feet trying to retreat, when a blonde haired lad came up to me offering me his hand.

"You can't possibly imply that you do not know how to, girl where have you been hiding in all this time? Swing is the thing!" he said.

"Pardon? I thought it was seldom danced around the world nowadays"

"Oh this is a chiefly American rhythm, come I'll teach you, you'll have fun!"

"Leon you fool, you are speaking to our new mistress, show more respect!" Said a dark haired girl sitting behind a counter.

"Oh my, you couldn't possibly be madam Hatsune would you? You are far too young to have a daughter"

"She is the daughter you dimwit"

"Oh yes of course! Pardon my manners miss, allow me to introduce myself. Al turn the music down will you?!" Said the blonde I figured was called Leon. The dark haired man turned off what seemed to be a gramophone, my curiosity was picked as to why such a thing would be here but I figured it had stayed even after the remodeling of the mansion. "My name is Leon, one of the servants here, I am overjoyed to make your acquaintance, you are an absolutely pretty girl miss!"

"Are you absolutely incapable of not acting like a brute Leon? Have more respect!" said the girl with an annoyed tone.

"Yes you are right, my apologies once again miss, I am at your services" he said grabbing my hand and kissing it.

"It is nice meeting you" I said pleasantly, then turned my head in the other's direction.

"Ah! My name is Alfred miss, most friends call me Big Al though, I am the head chef here." Said the dark haired man while bowing slightly. "And this lovely lady I was dancing with is Ann, my chef assistant" said him, gently laying a hand on the blonde girl's shoulder.

"I am delighted to meet you" she said.

"Likewise"

"Oh and the antipathetic gal reprimanding me so often here is Avanna" said Leon gesturing towards the dark haired girl.

She glared at him and turned to me changing her countenance to a gentler one. "Nice to meet you Miss Hatsune," she said smiling "do not mind Leon, he just enjoys pushing my buttons way too much"

I smiled "That's alright, I figured that much, nice to meet you too Avanna. Oh, feel free to call me Miku though, all of you, Hatsune sounds so horribly formal"

"Very well Miss Miku" replied Leon. "I hope you can forgive us for taking leisure time when you are here, probably requiring some aid with something. The offer to dance with me is still up though!"

Avanna just huffed and I couldn't help but laugh along the other three. "Yes I would like that actually" I said smiling earnestly.

"Oh is she not the loveliest thing?" exclaimed Ann suddenly rocking me in her arms.

"Indeed she is, and almost as beautiful as our old young mistress wouldn't you say?" said Al.

"Old mistress?" I furrowed my brows in confusion, I had no idea someone had lived here before us, I thought the place had been abandoned for more than fifty years already. All four of them looked troubled for a second and stopped talking and laughing altogether, before Avanna nervously broke the silence.

"Yes, the doctor did not like us speaking of her though, it is only fair we keep respectful obedience to him even after his parting"

Her explanation served only to baffle me further, but before I could ask Al started. "Oh goodness won't you look at the hour?! It is time we prepare dinner is it not? Leon, Avanna set the table for our mistress won't you? Let us cook something exquisite for her, we want to welcome her as warmly as only we can do!"

They shuffled off in different directions before I could ask anything else, and just left me standing on my spot, disregarding the disoriented expression that had appeared on my face. I figured they would not answer to any inquiry any time soon so I walked out of the kitchen and still affected by the glee their amiable personalities influenced me with, I decided on visiting the flowers while they were setting things up for dinner.

Upon arriving the garden I started feeling skittish again, but took valor and kept a light gait through the diverse colored flowers up until the white patch. My heart beat wildly and I felt my soul bashfully howl in a contained sense of much needed healing as I approached the roses, I hadn't even prepared anything to say or sing, and I felt terribly insecure about not being worthy enough of the voice's presence. But as I entered the patch I immediately felt wellness fall over me, I sat on the soft soil and took in my surroundings, suddenly I felt my breath and heart stop if only for just a moment.

Out of nowhere an incredibly beautiful creature appeared in front of me, an alluring girl stood smiling with infinite joy and fondness on her face. I was enraptured, her alabaster form was mesmerizing, she had long and dazzling rosy hair; a color almost as lovely as her blushing cheeks, a privileged constitution framed by a flattering long black dress made me lose the ability of speech even inside my own head. But it was her dear face what was most enthralling, a gentle countenance of delicate features was facing me, lush pink lips stretched in a gracious smile, a graceful nose, and the most angelic light blue eyes staring right into my own turquoise ones with an almost spiritual magnetism. I was in the presence of the embodiment of love and beauty, that was certain, I felt tears of joy at the brim of my eyes, it was her, I was convinced of it.

"You are back" She whispered, her sweet, sultry low voice impaired my language, oh goodness I wished I could have died right there and keep the memory of her as my last before the afterlife. "Oh you came back! I thought I would have to wait so long to see you again, my soul is overflowing with felicity, oh my most darling, and your eyes are the most divine thing I have ever beheld! You truly are the most beautiful thing upon this world, let me hold you, I beg you, I can't stand this distance, I had missed you so terribly"

I had lost all sense of speaking and in lieu of replying I flung myself at her arms, I was so completely captivated by this woman, I silently cried inside this divine being's embrace. I had wanted to tell her I loved her, that I would adore her forever, I did not care about who she was or the context of our meeting, I just knew I had found what I had been missing all my life.

"Dearest," she said while still holding me "you'll sing for me won't you? I've been longing for it for so long"

"Yes" I finally replied, stifling my sobs. "Yes, every day, I will".

* * *

**A: Ahh nothing like being hungover, waiting for a delayed flight, and sleepless to get inspiration. I sincerely hope you'll forgive me for writing like this, hopefully it was not too terrible, but I wanted to upload something before my exams week.**

**At first I hadn't planned on writing at all until next week but your reviews, favs and follows made me feel obliged (: **

**That and I saw these swing dancers the other day, oh my goodness I absolutely NEED to learn how to do that, shame you need a partner for that, nobody would ever be interested in that where I live *long depressed sigh*.**

**Once again, thank you for reading, reviews and suggestions are always welcome. Cheers~**


	4. Chapter 4

Oh I had found my goddess, my muse! This celestial mirage before me, this heavenly appearance, this benefaction bestowed upon me from good heavens had me at the mercy of her perfection, there was something so infinitely breathtaking about her, so undeniably pure, I felt my ego humble at her presence, love overwhelmed my senses and clouded everything else undividedly. It vexed me why someone so heavenly would care for my presence, even less enjoy it, but the expression of elation on her face kept me sheepishly content to be in her society. After a moment of selfish indulgence on my part, I finally dared to part slightly from our embrace to look into her eyes, light blue seas stared back with tenderness, oceans undoubtedly as deep as the yearning I had to become lost in them.

"Please," she said with a pleading smile "sing for me, if only just a little"

I nodded slightly, finding that even though I had felt coy about it before, holding her stare gave me enough inspiration to sing for eons if I had to. I kept her gaze as I started intonating an anthem of love, as beautifully and impeccably as I could, I was a bird chirping in adoration, chanting for love, love for a cherished one. She would tighten her hold on me whenever I would sing higher notes, intone lighthearted vibratos, and play whimsical falsettos, all in an effort to make myself worthy of her heeding. The adoration in her eyes melted away my reasoning, I felt that I required her hold even more, for I was sure to lose my footing otherwise.

The rhythm of my heart's beating demanded action and protested against my finishing this aria, but be it the breathlessness inspired by this woman or the strain produced by my arduous efforts, I found myself in the need of doing so, taking a fervent gasp at the end of the melody.

"Thank you" she breathed as her eyes glistened, and held me tight against herself again, much to my delight. Three winks later she completely released me though, my whole being protesting against it, and she took a content breath before graciously sitting on a nearby trunk, leaving some space for me to accompany her, which I wholeheartedly did. I wanted to say so much, to tell her so many things that I had not even thought of yet, but my voice and language processing skills inside my brain proved unresponsive. Furthermore, I wanted to at the very least hold her hand, sadly sheepishness was invading me again. She spoke before I could panic though, and I found myself at bliss again.

"That was most captivating, I was truly enchanted. Darling, how is it that you can entrance me so? Just when I thought I couldn't find you more alluring"

"It is only you that compels me to sing for such a purpose" I answered, possibly utilizing all the words available for use in my barely recovered recognition of a vocabulary.

"Oh, you are too charming" she said, subtly intertwining her left hand's fingers with my right's. She took a long look at my certainly dazed countenance, and slightly held our hands up. "Are you still troubled dear?"

"Not around you, no" I answered earnestly.

She smiled lightly and directed her gaze at our conjoined hands "I understand"

"What is your name?"

"Luka, Megurine Luka" she looked back up at me "what is yours?"

"Miku, Hatsune Miku" Forever yours and adoring.

"Lovely, just like you"

"Not as gorgeous and graceful as you"

She laughed slightly "I always believed you would be very pleasant, but I'm truthful, you are the loveliest ever" she passed a hand through my bangs delicately and leaned slightly to stare more closely into my eyes "I won't be convinced of the contrary no matter how little I see you"

I held my breath, overwhelmed by the proximity, and strained my brain to formulate words again. "Luka, I just moved here, I'll be staying in the mansion, up in the room with a window facing here, see?" I blurted out, growing bashful. "Oh I beg of you, would you kindly let me visit you often?"

She looked surprised for a second, before a beautiful smile parted her pink lips. "Yes! As often as you wish, I entreat you. There is nothing that would make me any happier"

I impulsively embraced her again smiling, and she corresponded ardently. Both of us with a happy expression, she let me transiently rest on her lap as I suddenly felt myself becoming incredibly weary, entertaining herself with locks of my hair. She woke me as the sun was setting though and sent me to dinner after assuring to meet again the next day, parting warmly.

Going inside the manor I found myself violently dragged into reality again, but the promise of a rendezvous tomorrow kept me joyful. I washed my hands at a lavatory and sighed blissfully at my own reflection in the mirror, this was the aspect of a truly happy girl I told myself, I had never been one to pray much but I thanked every deity I knew for the existence of Luka, she was what I unknowingly had always been looking for, nothing was ever more logical and absolute.

I headed towards the dining room feeling hungry at last and found a young blonde servant-boy ready to aid me at the table.

"Miss, food is ready, would you like to dine now?" he said.

"Oh… Yes thank you," I paused still a little dazed from before "what is your name?"

"Oliver miss, at your service"

"A pleasure to meet you Oliver" I said as courteously as I could. "You can call me Menu, I mean Miku! I don't like formalities too much"

He smiled a little amusedly "A pleasure meeting you too Miku, I'll bring your dinner right away, please have a seat" he said, politely pulling a chair for me to sit on and leaving for the kitchen.

After a few minutes he came back carrying a skillfully cooked breaded chicken breast and chambray potatoes dish and set it in front of me before bringing some cranberry juice to accompany it. I thanked him and started eating with delight.

"This was absolutely delicious Oliver, you'll have to give Al my compliments" I said after finishing.

"Al miss?" he asked, looking confused.

"Yes, the head chef"

"Oh, I have yet to meet him I think"

"Ah I see, well I'll thank him later personally"

I thought perhaps he was too young and new to know all of the staff working at the mansion. After thanking him for his service and asking him to commend the others for their hard work that day, I headed to my room and changed into sleepwear after brushing my teeth and washing my face. I decided on going to bed early for I was going to start classes at my new school the next day, and I wanted to start off leaving a good impression on the first day.

As I lay on my bed I couldn't help recalling my encounter with Luka and felt my lips stretch into a sleepy smile, I would finally feel complete, her sole presence kindled hope inside me, I had felt lost for so long and she had appeared as a beacon of light to guide me and recondition my soul. With that thought on mind, I tightly held a pillow against myself and contently fell asleep.

The next morning I had my mother's chauffeur drive me to the institute I was to attend before taking her elsewhere, she and I sat next to each other at the backseat, chatting lightly. The uniform I was wearing looked fancier than any other I had worn before, it had a classic style nonetheless; a brown checkered skirt, a white button-up shirt, black knee-length socks and shoes, and a beige blazer embroidered with the institute's emblem combined elegantly, I had no idea on what fabric was used but it felt a bit more luxurious than in other uniforms I had tried.

"I assure you the place will be of your liking Miku, I could describe it further but I would like you to see it for yourself. Ah, we'll be there shortly." she said.

"Sounds good" I said, looking through the window. After passing a bridge, a magnificent and behemothic building soon came into view, surrounded by vast meadows, I could glimpse at some sport courts visible from the sides of the construction surrounded by tall, adorned metal bars. Our chauffeur stopped in front of the main gates, and I realized this was to be my new school.

"Good luck on your first day dear" said my mother, smiling and ruffling my hair lightly.

I wished my mother good luck as well and stepped out of the car, heading towards the entrance to gather some information on where I should go and what I would be doing during that school year. The reception was as lavish as the outside suggested, well-kept baroque furniture and art complimented the marvelous interiors, and the wooden flooring glistened cleanly. I approached the receptionist and gave her my name to receive a schedule and instructions and headed towards the classroom I had been assigned to. On my way there I noticed several club posters on an advertising board, I was sure to join the theatre troupe later on, perhaps I'd join the choir as well, I wanted to improve my singing for Luka after all.

Before I could get lost on that thought, I arrived at my classroom and knocked slightly on the door, a stout and dark haired man attended and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at my presence.

"Ah, my deepest apologies for interrupting your lesson sir, my name is Hatsune Miku I have just recently transferred here and been assigned to this class" I said, bowing lightly.

"Ah yes, I was informed of your arrival, come in Hatsune, introduce yourself to the class and take a seat" he answered.

I did as he indicated, receiving a few curious stares from my classmates, while others seemed truly uninterested. I sat next to a light blue eyed and rosy-silver haired girl that waved at me amiably.

"Hatsune, you are of Asian descent are you not?" she asked in a quite pleasant tone.

"Yes, my father is Japanese, my mom is French though" I answered, politely shaking the hand she offered.

"Ah just like me then! Dad's Japanese, and Mom's American though. Nice to meet you, my name is Akasaka Aria, you may call me IA though"

"Nice to meet you too, you may call me Miku as well"

"Would you like a tour around school later on Miku? I'll introduce you to some of my friends as well, they'll be thrilled to meet you, we don't get many transfer students that often, and you have travelled so much! Lily will go crazy about you, you'll like her, she is a senior"

"I'd be honored IA" I said, smiling at the girls friendliness.

After taking our first period of class, I let IA guide me through the main places in the institute, trying to make a mental map of important things such as the cafeteria, offices, clubrooms, and library. The place was truly enormous for being located in the countryside, but I figured it would be normal for such a high-class academy. After a good 20 minutes of tour, we returned to the cafeteria where IA's friends greeted us cheerfully.

"Gee IA where had you been? We waited for you for far too long, grew hungry and went ahead without you though." said a tall, blonde haired girl. "Oh, who is this?" she asked, looking at me.

"This is Hatsune Miku, she is in my class, she just transferred here," said IA "Miku remember I told you about Lily? This is her" she motioned towards the blue eyed blonde.

"Masuda Lily, nice to meet you Hatsune," she smiled "you are half Japanese too aren't you? That makes five of us"

"Nice to meet you too Masuda, you can just call me Miku though" I said, bowing slightly.

She chuckled a bit. "How very formal, you can call me Lily too"

They both introduced me to the rest of their friends, a brown haired and tan guy named Bruno, a curly blonde haired girl called SeeU, a silver haired girl called Maika, and two blonde haired twins named Rin and Len who happened to be of Japanese descent as well. We chatted idly about irrelevant things for the rest of the break and I felt I had been accepted inside their social circle already. On our way back to our classrooms IA gaped intently at a black haired boy across the hallway and sighed enamored.

"Isn't he most gorgeous?" she asked.

"Got your eyes on a new one already huh?" asked Lily "Honestly I can't take your crushes seriously anymore IA"

"Oh but I am in love!"

"So she says…"

"You like him IA?" I asked "Why don't you approach him?

"Oh I will, I'm just waiting for the perfect moment" she said smiling bashfully.

"Don't let her fool you, she is an incorrigible player, she had another guy in her clutches last week" said Lily.

"And another girl three weeks before that one" said Bruno, chuckling slightly.

"I loved them all though!" protested IA.

"I find that really hard to believe dear," said Lily "you can barely call those flings relationships"

"You wouldn't be so shallow as to think that you have to be in a relationship to love someone would you?" said IA with a dignified air. "What do you say Miku?"

"I think I agree with you, love is something too extraordinary to try and make it fit within any rules" I said smiling gently, remembering the undeniable love I felt for a certain girl I had really just met.

"Oh lord, now there's two of them!" exclaimed Lily with fake dread, then she smiled "Oh well, that's alright I still like you both"

The rest of the day went by uneventfully and after bidding farewell to my new friends I had our family's chauffeur drive me back home. The place had been pretty swell and the people amiable enough, so I decided I liked my new school, the next day I would apply for clubs of my choice and judge their artistic focus.

Upon arriving home I couldn't wait to meet Luka again any longer, but I had the sensibility to not throw my schoolbag and sprint towards the garden like a maniac; and I moved as collectedly as I could, gently leaving my bag inside my room, walking towards the garden as naturally as the excitement affecting my body would let me.

Finally finding myself among the white roses I immediately felt content and closed my eyes inhaling the pure scent.

"Dearest, ah yes it is you!" I opened my eyes and found a beautiful angel standing before me.

"Luka" I whispered, letting joy overflow inside my soul as she cupped my cheeks, her delicate alabaster fingers caressing me lightly.

"I'm glad you are here" she said fondly.

"Coming here and being with you is the greatest joy I have in life"

"Oh nonsense dear, I'm hardly that entertaining" she answered with a light and charming giggle.

"No Luka I am sincere, nothing has ever made more sense. Meeting you makes my soul unbroken, I feel there is order inside my head again"

"Order?" She laughed "Oh love, I think you must be terribly tired, saying such things. Come, won't you rest on my lap again, there are few things more lovely than your slumbering face"

I complied to her request wholeheartedly right away, there was nothing I craved more than her touch. Looking at her gentle expression I felt compelled to ask about what she had stated though. "Dear, what did you mean by that?" I asked a bit dazed.

"Oh, you see when you sleep you look absolutely at peace, completely untroubled, and I get to play with your beautiful hair ever so lightly. But when you are awake, you sing, you speak, you look at me with such intensity, such sprightliness, I don't think anything can quite compare to how wonderful that is" she stated, staring deeply into my eyes.

"Ah, I don't know what to say" I paused. "You are to me the most precious thing Luka, I'm really earnest when I say you have brought me joy, you have no idea how much. Truly, I don't feel so lost anymore" I held one of her hands, feeling the need to compliment her. "That is not what I meant to ask though" I said, before she could disagree again.

"Oh," She blinked confusedly "What did you want to know then?"

"About order, do you disregard it?"

"Ah, not quite" she answered, smiling while stroking my hair lovingly. "It's just that it may seem order is what keeps humanity organized, gives it a raison d'etre if you may, and keeps madness at bay, never sailing too deep into the average human mind. But it is not so, at least not for me. I have come to believe that order, by itself, like order within the universe, is more of a lawless thing. Nature needs to be chaotic to work efficiently"

I confusedly stared at her, feeling completely disoriented. She laughed mildly. "Allow me to elaborate on the insanity of those words. Order, as we know it, suggests stillness, perfection, morality and beauty. But how can something make your ego fill with joy if it doesn't move, doesn't change, or at the very least challenge your intellect?" she explained.

"Ah, I understand" I finally said, her ideas seemed somewhat turbulent but they clicked inside my head coherently somehow. I smiled amusedly "Then you would have to be my chaos, the one I have been needing for so long"

She laughed lightly. "Oh you flatter me too much"

We lingered like that for a while, indulging into each other's presence. Every word she spoke had a ring of undeniable truth, and I was willing to follow her philosophy minutely, it did occur to me that I was letting myself be too easily influenced, but the feeling of sheer joy inside my being took any doubtful thoughts away. Surrounded by pure white roses, being held by my darling, this had become my utopia, my nirvana, had it been a fairyland I would have gladly let myself be captured inside, forever befuddled and elated.

* * *

**Happy late Valentine's Day guys, I hope it was lovely for all of you, it sure was for me, the gym was practically deserted and I had all the machines at my immediate disposal~**

**Exams week is finally over, and while I do have the excuse of being left with a toasted brain, I apologize for taking so long to update, I tried to make it longer to compensate (although it seems I don't have the required attention span for more than 3k words *sigh*). **

**Hopefully you'll like it, and hopefully my writing was not too contaminated by the stress from exams, not that they were hard, they were just uhm... fun I guess. I got to admit though, you have to realize your math class is not going so well when the teacher has to retort to this kind of things to explain an overly simple concept: i. imgur . c_o_m / aMyWJn4 . jpg?1 (Sorry it was just so hilarious, I had to take a picture of it and share it, it really made my day though).**

**Thanks for all your favorites, follows, and reviews! They truly make me happy. Cheers~ c:**


	5. Chapter 5

Days went by affably, I joined both the theatre and choir clubs at the institute, and managed to make several acquaintances. It had proven just as easy as before to fit in society here, not that it really bothered or appeased me, such things had long been a routine in my life, and the clubs demonstrated competent, if not outstanding, with several proficient participants. The most marvelous thing was though, that I had now found a direction, or at the very least an inspiration; having Luka kept my unruly thoughts mitigated, she would offer fascinating points of view on life's gimmicks, and she would enthrall me with her beauty.

I had never felt any more alive, or any younger, even more so than in past years, life brimmed with joy and days seemed to shine more winsomely. I pondered if this was what being a '_retarded teenager' _meant, and if that was the case, I would gladly accept the unflattering term on behalf of my bliss and amusement. Being alive was truly delightful.

"Every stage of life has its particular exaltation, and while these characteristics are always present during one's life, it is to be noted that during youth your virtue is beauty, and you are to make use of it and spread it as elegantly or childishly as possible" Had said Luka, when I confessed the satisfaction I felt. "Adulthood is a period of glorious proactivity, your opinions will matter and the actions you perform will have an impact on our society's standards and possibilities. And elders have the blessing of wisdom, it would be folly to imply all of them are wise, but it is true that experience provides a better insight on life's matters, you can find no better advisor than a grandparent I'd say, and be sure that they take joy into watching the young heed their words, for they have not the charm or strength to act upon their own intelligence anymore"

It always amused me how she would speak so eloquently and confidently, and I listened intently every time. Aside from being the object of my adoration, I considered her to be a mentor of some sort, what she would say I would apply to my own life, finding this philosophy to unalterably improve it. It would occur though, that every once in a while I would repeatedly feel the need to unplug, the philosophical enlightenment often contrasted reality, the ideas too utopic outside that dreamworld. This affected what I thought to be my down to earth personality, and I would not rarely sigh melancholically, becoming slightly more uncaring for the social façade I would always sport.

My new friends had no real way of noticing this though, and they proved to be an amiable and reliable bunch. IA would attend theatre with me, while Lily participated in the choir as well, both being more than apt at their tasks. It was indeed a fact that IA was truly a casual romantic, a week after I had met her she started dating the boy she had been so enamored of, two weeks later she was meeting a girl two years our senior, and so on. I really liked her ideology though, her viewpoints were full of charming affectations, and it always proved enjoyable to converse with her. Lily was more of a commonsensical person, but that was far from boring, she had a remarkable sensibility and would display a very caring and entertaining personality. Much like Luka, she shared the belief of jest and wit to be the base of all ethic and reasoning in life, which showed in her behavior.

"So I offered her to close her eyes while I brought something special," said IA one day, commenting on her romance with a girl she had just barely met "now you see, she loves birds, so I paper-crafted a few for her, and wrote parts of a poem on their wings. Oh, you should have seen her expression when I gave them to her!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"How very corny IA," laughed Lily "but that was very sweet, I'll give it to you. I'm sure you blew her off her feet with that."

"Well, I am in love. Look, I still shake in passion, just by remembering the lovely face she made" gasped IA holding up an obviously fake-trembling hand.

"You are insane" said my blonde haired friend jokingly, as we giggled at IA's mannerisms.

"You too will be in love one day, and I too will make fun of your goofy romanticisms Lily," said IA "just you wait, it'll happen I tell you. In fact, I'm curious you girls, do you have anyone you like right now?"

"I do" I said, smiling bashfully.

"Oh goodness! Do we know him? Does he know you? Have you talked? How is he? As of now, I will support you two to get together!" said IA excitedly.

"Breathe woman, breathe, you asked her too many questions. You get overly excited about romance don't you?" chuckled Lily. "Although I'm curious too, what do you answer Miku?"

"Well, no, yes, yes, and absolutely perfect." I answered smiling softly, hoping I had remembered the order of the questions correctly. "It is not a guy though, also thanks for the offer but really I'm okay"

"Do tell us though, what do you know about her so far?" inquired Lily.

"Uh…" They both stared at me intently, as I realized I didn't really know anything about Luka, I had been just getting carried away with emotion, and hadn't asked the most obvious things, it was unforgivable but I was just so enamored, logic had evaded me all the while being around her. "Her name is Luka, and she is the most beautiful thing I have ever beheld" I said gently.

"And?" asked IA.

"And… that's it really" I answered, surely disappointing her.

"Wait, you still don't know anything about her? That's unacceptable Miku!" she reprimanded me. "As your mentor in love, I task you to ask for information!"

"Uh…"

"I'll have to agree with IA on this one Miku," said Lily "you should find out more about her. How are we going to help you get her to fall for you otherwise?" she smiled.

"How indeed?!" exclaimed IA.

I laughed a little. "That's alright really, thank you guys. You are right though, I should ask more about her soon" I said.

"You better!" said IA, as the cafeteria's clock made a melodious sound, signalizing the end of our break.

Their words dawned heavily on me later on though, it was ridiculous, I claimed to be in love with her, but I knew absolutely nothing about Luka. Using the indulgence in sweet moments we had as an excuse didn't seem very logical either, I was being absolutely unreasonable and selfish, keeping her as a part of my fairytale, not inquiring anything about the real her. It was inexcusable, and I truly wanted to get closer to her, so I decided I would ask her more about herself next time I saw her.

With that mindset, that very same day, as I was visiting that flowery paradise, I remembered to make an inquiry to know more about my beloved.

"Say Luka, where do you come from?" I asked, interrupting a comfortable silence that had followed yet another lecture from her.

"I…don't know," she answered hesitantly "but it's not as complicated as you may think, there is a story behind that"

"Oh, if it is not too rude for me to ask, would you tell me that story?" I had to admit that her answer took me by surprise, and I felt the need to inquire further.

"Well, certainly, I don't mind too much" she sat straighter and gazed forward as people often do when remembering something. "I have no real knowledge on where me or my brother were born, all I remember is that we only had each other as we were homeless children. Neither of us knew anything about our origins, we just had our names, and that is a curious thing actually, they are so similar, his name was Luki, and he was a few years older than me, although I never knew how many" she said smiling fondly at the memory.

"You have a brother? He must be a very handsome lad, inasmuch as you are astonishingly beautiful" I said, being obviously incapable to stop giving her compliments.

She tittered a little. "Yes, he was very handsome, or he would have been, we were too young when he died after all"

As she said this, I regretted having spoken so imprudently right away. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"No, do not worry about that, he is at peace now. It was a hard life," she continued "we would often find ourselves in the need of stealing and begging for food, the streets truly are not a gentle place for children. It must have been especially hard for him, taking into account that he had to take care of me since I was probably not of much help, being so little." At this she seemed remorseful, I held one of her hands gently to show some reassurance.

"It was not your fault"

"Yes, thank you… I know that." She stood silent for a few seconds, then she continued. "I had been so scared, the thought of being alone terrified me. One day he collapsed right before me, he would always save more food for me, and I think starvation finally killed him. I cried uncontrollably over his still form, he was the only anchor I had to hope, and without him I was sure to follow after soon. Both his death and this realization were too much for such a young girl, and I could do nothing but bawl."

"Oh Luka" I held her tightly against myself, it was unthinkable that such a sweet girl would have had to live through something so terrible. She returned my hug gently, and slowly separated from me, caressing my cheek softly.

"I'm okay" she said, looking into my eyes tenderly. "It was then when doctor Megurine took me in," she explained "he found me crying over my brother's body, and getting out of his car he stooped over me, soothingly comforting me. I was only six I think, he took me with him afterwards, vowing to take care of me and give my brother a proper burial. He was a very gentle man, slender and good looking, he was married to a gorgeous French woman, with whom he had raised a son." She took one of my hands, gingerly playing with my fingers. "He took me inside the mansion, adopted me, and let me bear his last name. I think I was quite disliked by his family though, they never seemed to take well to the fact that he had impulsively picked up a waif, and while they were never too horrible to me, they certainly did not act with fondness towards me."

"Such a thing is inconceivable! It is impossible to feel anything but adoration for someone like you" I exclaimed, truly indignant.

She looked amusedly at me and chuckled lightly. "Well it is not like they mistreated me badly, they were just indifferent and avoided me as often as possible. Anyway, my brother did receive a proper ceremony, doctor Megurine accompanied me as I bid my farewells to him, and had me taken under his wing soon after. I lived in this mansion since then, he truly was too kind to me, had me schooled and pampered like his own child, I grew up well-fed and happy under his protection and the care of the household's servants, many of which I befriended."

It certainly was a story worthy of a fairytale character such as herself, but something told me there was more to what she had told. Feeling bold, I dared to ask. "And dear, how did you end up here?"

She winced at what surely was not a very pleasant memory. "I'm not really sure, I was just trying to escape"

"Escape? From what or whom?"

"Doctor Megurine…" she replied sadly.

"The doctor... Why?" I asked, bewildered.

She sighed and closed her eyes. "During that time, war broke out, and while he was required to stay here to attend to his duties as a doctor, his son had come to an age to be asked to serve his country. Still a boy, and just as slender as his father, he was killed very quickly; the doctor's wife couldn't bear it and she took her own life soon after she was told. It was horribly tragic, and it destroyed the doctor, I stood by his side during all the ceremonies, and while his kindness stayed intact, I could tell he had lost an important anchor to sanity with the loss of his family." She slowly opened her eyes and continued. "He became even more affectionate towards me though, it seemed excessive sometimes; I think he regarded me as the only remnant of his family, and he had me treated as such. I should have been happy, but as I turned twenty years old his attentions started unnerving me, he would sometimes act like a man courting a woman would, and as I regarded him my father, I could not find any of it enticing".

My eyes grew in fear at the thought of this man forcing himself on my beloved, and she noticed this. She relaxed her countenance and grabbed my face between her hands reassuringly. "He never hurt me," she said "but he did become terribly jealous of any man that would approach me, he became wary of even Leon, although considering the way he acts, that could have been understandable…"

"You know Leon? I met him, Avanna, Al and Ann the first day I arrived."

"Oh yes, we are good friends. I know the other three too, they are incredibly attentive are they not?" she smiled, releasing my face.

"They are all great, very jolly too"

"Indeed. Anyway, the doctor became a bit forceful as well, he would openly claim to love me and pledged to always protect me, and while he would say that he would never dare force me to do anything, he would be desperate and extremely angry when I wouldn't return his attentions." Her face looked impassive, but I knew she was probably choosing her words carefully, as if to make the story less appalling, and to keep the memory she had of him respectful. "It kept scaling up to the point where he would practically lock me up inside the mansion to keep me from the world. It eventually became unbearable and one day finding myself incapable of going anywhere outside apart from the back garden, I dropped to my knees in this place, crying in despair. I stared at these roses, so simple, so beautiful, and so lovely and free, I earnestly prayed that I could be like them, that I could root myself to this place and never worry about anything or answer to anyone or anything but beauty. And before I could become aware of it, I had my wish granted, I've been here since then"

It was fantastic, tragic and beautiful. Luka definitely was the heroine of a fairytale, no wonder she would be so poetical and whimsical sometimes. The '_since then_' part bothered me though, had she not stated that she had been watching me for years now? Ever since I started discontinuously visiting this place, ever since I was quite younger. She interpreted the befuddlement in my face for a different question though.

"You must be wondering, what is there that I could have possibly eaten or done here right? Well I can't really tell myself, truth is I have never required food or sleep anymore ever since then." She looked slightly amused and confused at her own statement, and smiled afterwards. "You must also be thinking it would be boring to be here for so long, but you see, even if I do not need sleep, I find that I can slumber for long periods of time if so I wish to. Being here has also allowed me to think a lot, analyze things and understand them better as I find the need to. I must say though, the highlight of being here has been your presence"

I blushed at her statement. "Oh, you must actually be bored then, to find me so fascinating. I would only read and sing here before after all"

"And that is one of most beautiful things in life I have ever had the delight to witness" she said, charming me with her smile. "I have always enjoyed your presence, from the very first time I saw you up until now, I would eagerly await for your return"

From the first time! That was an overly long time. "Luka… for how long have you been here?" I asked.

"I…don't know" she answered. "A while I guess, the lapses of time from when I saw you and when I didn't were long after all, or they felt terribly long I'd dare say" she said, smiling alluringly. "How long has it been since the first time you came here?"

Years, it has been years since then, the thought crossed my mind but I dared not say it out loud.

* * *

**You truly have no idea how hard it was to write this, but with all the favs and follows I have received I felt obliged to update as soon as possible. **

**For some reason it happened that this was a very stressful week, and my computer proved uncooperative as well; has it ever happened to you that windows 8 has all it's shortcuts deleted? In the end I did figure out it had something to do with the antivirus, but I was too annoyed to fix it and just restored the pc to a previous point. **

**I did meet some friends I had a long time without seeing this week though, so that made me happy. A friend also treated me to nigiri sushi and gave me a ride home when my car was unavailable for use, thanks for that bro, I owe you (I still refuse to write a steamy chapter in this story for your amusement though...).**

**So in the end it was a pretty balanced week hmmnnn. Anyway thanks for your support, I have finally started writing some actual plot lol, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are appreciated~**


	6. Chapter 6

There was something undeniably preternatural about what I had learned from Luka, but I loved her too much to care. Some things are just too hard to understand, too difficult to grasp, so we just decide not to think about them. There were so many discrepancies in her story, any rational person would have found them odd right away, but I was in denial of reasoning, she was the most beautiful and perfect thing in my life after all.

That night, after reluctantly parting from my beloved, I visited the kitchen on impulse, most certainly to avoid dwelling in the preoccupations logic wanted to present. I found Leon gazing intently at the gramophone I had seen before, looking as if he wanted to figure something out.

"Leon" I greeted him.

He jumped a little at the sound of my voice, and bringing a hand to his chest he smiled with ease. "Miss Miku, what a delight to see you! What brings you here?"

"Nothing really… I just wanted to get some distraction and started wandering around I guess" I replied, quickly dismissing the argumentations the barely present analytical part of me wanted to implant into my thoughts. "Is something wrong with that gramophone?"

"Ah I'm not really sure, no matter what I try it just won't play, I think I'm missing something"

I looked at the artifact and noticed it had no power source but a small lever. "Perhaps," I said grabbing it and turning it "it just needs some winding"

"Of course! Wow, I am so dumb." He said, smiling goofily and playing the very same music I had heard the first time we had met. "Thank you, how could I ever repay you?"

"Hmm, I'll take you up on the other day's offer, would you teach me how to dance that?"

His face brightened up amusedly, nodding he took my hand and started teaching me. While seemingly clumsy on other things, he was a very proficient dancer and teacher, and I found myself challenged very quickly, the dance being a little more complex to learn than I had imagined. The rhythm was contagious and jolly, this foxtrot was something both exhausting and enjoyable, its unruly movements served to effectively distract me until I became too fatigued to continue.

"Don't worry, you just need a little bit more practice" he said, chuckling at my disappointed expression.

"Indeed, I think that's enough for tonight though, thank you Leon" I smiled, sitting on a nearby wooden chair.

"Anytime, I hope it did help you get some distraction"

"It did"

We stood silent for a moment, panting slightly. I remembered Luka mentioning Leon and thought about sharing my meeting her with him.

"Leon, you too know Luka don't you?" I asked

His friendly expression faltered slightly, looking aghast that I would have mentioned her. He quickly composed himself smiling again and answered though. "Oh yes, Al, Ann, and Avanna know her too. I'd dare say we are friends, she is a very agreeable girl, really good looking too"

"Indeed she is" I said, feeling warm at the recollection of her existence.

"Yeah, how did you uh… when did you meet?"

"Last December I suppose, I only heard her voice then though. We didn't formally meet until I moved here"

"Ah! So you met here?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, at the back garden, in fact I always find her there whenever I visit it"

"I see." He stood in a reflective silence for a few seconds, then turned to me. "Oh, did she mention me?"

"Yes, she said the doctor became jealous of your friendship once"

"She told you about that?!" He looked a bit panicked at what I had said.

"Yeah, and no offense Leon but considering how hmm… courteous you are all the time, I can totally see that happening" I said, tittering a little.

"Ah…" he looked incredibly confused but relaxed at the sound of my giggling. "Well, can't really help it around such lovely ladies can I?" he retorted, grinning again.

"Oh you flatterer" I laughed a little at his cheekiness.

"So… how have you found everything so far?" He asked, quickly changing subjects.

"I believe this is my favorite place so far" I replied happily, it truly was, considering the latest occurrences and the people I had met.

"I'm glad"

We kept talking about irrelevant things until he had to leave to help prepare for dinner, and after I dined myself, I headed to my room, thankfully too tired to think about anything before falling asleep.

The next day, IA wasted no time in assaulting me with questions about my adored Luka. How she concluded that I had gathered more information right away puzzled me, but I figured I would tell her a little about what I had learned, carefully hiding some things, out of respect for my beloved of course. She seemed satisfied with what I shared and days went by with her unreasonably teasing me about my crush and giving me romantic advice, which I did not really disregard, on a daily basis. Thankfully, Lily didn't join in the teasing, and she just expressed support whenever the topic would come out.

Every moment I spent with Luka, the more I became entranced, sometimes she would be silent as I sang and read for her, allowing me to admire her calm beauty; and sometimes she would be fascinatingly articulate, expressing both beautiful words and wise ideas. It was also charming how she would ask the simplest things, with earnest interest.

One day as I was enjoying a blissful moment resting on her lap, my cellphone rang with a call from my mother, as I spoke to her Luka stared at the gadget questioningly. When the call finished, I had to go back inside the mansion, but before that my darling looked at me curiously.

"What is this device?" she asked, looking like a kitten that had just found a tiny swaying object to play with "I had never see anything like it before"

It was odd that she hadn't but I explained its functions to her nonetheless. "Well this is a cellphone, a smartphone actually; with it you can get calls and texts anywhere and at any time. It has other uses too, see? It has a camera here, you can also add applications…" I explained what I deemed a very simple concept, but I almost couldn't keep myself from giggling at the look of entire concentration Luka had. The expression of utter confusion on her face was adorable, although I could have sworn that I heard something short-circuit inside her head. "I'll show you how it works if you wish"

She beamed at me and excitedly agreed, her full focus on me. I showed her how the phone worked, its functions, and how you could access most of any information you wished on the internet, she was so amazed by this, I lent her my phone until we would meet again. When I saw her again she impressed me.

"Oh this was marvelous, I found information on incredibly fascinating scientific discoveries!" she said. Facts about energy, mass, time, biology, philosophy, and whatnot were relentlessly thrown at me far too quickly for me to digest them properly. "And I found this info on fractal mathematics as well, very useful by the way, and all for free! What a wonderful invention this smartphone is." It truly was, and I had to reflect on all the time I spent watching cat videos on such invention.

It was beyond me how she could have found any of those things interesting, or how she could have spent so much time learning so many things, but I was glad she enjoyed it, she seemed horribly mortified about the phone's battery having died though.

"Do not worry about it," I reassured her "I'll just have to charge it again, it is not broken. I'm glad you found it entertaining"

She suddenly grabbed my hands and stared at me intently, concern written on her face. "I worry about you though, darling is it not dangerous for you to have such a powerful tool in your possession?"

I had to keep myself from giggling again, and I boldly dared caress her cheek lovingly, the feeling of her delicate skin almost distracted me enough to keep me from answering. "No dear, nowadays almost everyone has one of these, in fact mine is pretty standard, I've seen fancier ones" At this she sighed in true relief and held one of her hands against the one I had on her cheek, tenderly nuzzling into it, immediately melting my heart.

"Sorry, I just know so little about these things, hopefully I don't strike you as dumb" she said.

"Oh heavens no! You just had not seen them before, and trust me you have given it a far better use in one day than I have in almost a year of owning it"

She sheepishly smiled at me, and as I admired her expression an idea struck me. "Oh you know, I can't really let you keep my phone, my mother wouldn't appreciate it. But I can give you a tablet, I have one stored somewhere and I rarely use it, the screen is bigger and it will be more comfortable for you to use I believe. Ah, I also have this thingamabob a friend once gave me, it uses solar panels and charges gadgets, that way you could use the tablet almost completely to your heart's content!"

The look of disorientation on her face was the most lovable thing ever.

I kept visiting her, both my heart and soul relinquished anxieties and inundated with sheer peace and optimism, while my whole being overflowed with love and elation. The ideas Luka shared plagued my mind, they idyllically filled my soul, but they made the "real world" even more unbearable, it was hard not to become upset at the comparison between my flowery nirvana and the non-magical, vulgar reality. Consumed by adoration I was incredibly happy, but began to care less and less about the world outside my fairytale.

Lily noticed my listlessness and worried over me, like a good friend would. After a while of annoying inquiry from her part I decided I didn't care about pretenses anymore and told her all about Luka and both my previous and present affectations, trusting also that she would be understanding. To my surprise she believed me, all of it.

"Wow, it truly is an utopic romance Miku" she said.

"Yes, and you see it is her ideas that have made me feel alive again, but they are also the reason of why I am so apathetic." I said "It truly amazes me that for someone who seems to know so little about the world, she can design this wonderful theories and philosophies"

"Well the thing is, you and I could never do that, our life is just too comfortable, and very secure. It is people that have truly faced hardships the ones who can get a real view on the world, really judge it for what it is and not on selfish meditations. To know how to live in the wilderness life really is, that allows true musing and wisdom"

It was true, and even though I had kept from telling about Luka's past thoroughly, it seemed like Lily could tell she had suffered, and what she stated was undeniably accurate I realized.

"Yes, you are right," I answered "perhaps I'm letting myself be manipulated by idealism"

"It is people like you and me that become so terribly idealistic, we have everything at our disposal, and by facing no difficulties we become overly analytic of everything, living self-centered, our minds become our reality; the thing is that with this we acquire a lot of facts but miss way too many answers" she explained, somewhat melancholically.

"People of many ideas and little action huh?" the idea bothered me, but I reckoned it was appropriate.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing, such as long as something doesn't hurt others I don't see the harm in it, the issue is how easy it is to become mad, depressed or superficial" Interrupted IA, who had seemingly been listening behind us all along. "You guys are terrible, leaving without me"

"I thought you were staying for extra theatre duties today, you mentioned something like that yesterday" said Lily, impassive at her appearance.

"Oh, I hurried so I could hang out with you guys, not that you were kind enough to wait for me at least five minutes though"

"IA," I interrupted, still pensive about what Lily what said "what do you think of what I told Lily?"

She made a thinking gesture, and looked into my eyes with a seriousness uncharacteristic of her. "It is good that she is so emotional and down to earth, she helps you become more balanced, helps you appreciate the more terrenal things in life outside of an objective spectrum. But I fear your idealism is far too dangerous in this situation, you are too enthralled by her strong emotions and convictions, it is almost as if you were addicted, and it is a bit troubling to think that you are becoming oddly uninterested in reality and obsessed over a reverie"

"A reverie? Are you calling me mad now?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows slightly offended.

"No, of course not. But… maybe she is?"

"…I beg your pardon?" I knew IA had no ill intentions by stating this, but I couldn't help feeling angry at any negative remark made against the one I loved the most. And even so, could she be mad? Did I care? Certainly not.

"No never mind… but," she looked with earnest worry at me "Miku I'm afraid I have to ask this already, I've been holding it for far too long, thinking it would be the best thing to do for your sake. But is it not weird that Luka doesn't know anything about the modern world? That you can only see her in that garden? That she doesn't know stuff even about herself? It feels kind of strange, even preternatural I'll tell you"

As much as it irritated me to admit it, I realized she was right and there was a lot that didn't fit in the whole situation, I had just been so enamored of Luka, I was willing to overlook the most logical things. Both my friends were justifiably concerned about me, and I managed to thank them for that, despite my reluctance to accept the facts. Thinking they were right and that I had to stop playing my folly fantasy, I decided on investigating the matter further with Leon and the other guys back at the mansion.

All four of them proved to be very evasive on answering my questions, and I had to start formulating ideas of my own, it was odd but I had the feeling that something not quite natural was going on. "Perhaps they are vampires, or ghosts, something like that. "What? You never know" IA had jokingly said, and I started to think maybe she was not so far off. There were many inconsistencies, the war Luka had stated for example; as far as I knew there hadn't been one in over 50 years. The same thing happened with the music my servant friends seemed to love so much, and that connection did not escape me. A dreadful conjecture was forming in my mind, and as much as my heart fearfully cried for retreat, my rational mind demanded answers.

I managed to chat with Leon about other matters, and decided to take advantage of our leisurely taken chat to subtly get some information.

"So, where do you come from Leon? I asked.

"Oh I'm from here, my parents were from London though" he said.

"That explains a lot" I smiled. "You sure dance foxtrot really well, you grew up with it didn't you?"

"Yes! I did, and I have always loved it and practiced it, ever since I was young"

Here I decided to start planting the question, taking advantage of his somewhat lackadaisical nature. "I'm surprised they allowed young boys into ballrooms"

"Well I had my charm and connections you know"

"Really? How old are you Leon?"

"Twenty-three, and very handsome" he said, winking.

I chuckled a little. "Oh, I see. What's your date of birth?"

"Ah you don't believe me do you? It's the January fifteenth, I was born in 1927"

Dread burned insight me, but I made use of my polished acting skills and kept composure. "I see, and what year are we on Leon?"

He looked around nervously and found a calendar to check the date on. "Why, 2014 of course" he smiled. I silently stared at him very seriously and his face fell, realizing what he had just said. He just stared at me, waiting for me to say something though. I carefully steeled my nerves and found my voice again.

"Then, you are certainly not twenty-three… Leon. I have an idea of what is going on, and please stop trying to hide it, just tell me the truth will you? What are you? What is going on?" I asked, my voice starting to sound slightly panicked at the end.

He sighed in resignation. "I suppose you would have eventually found out, the whole situation is very weird, how could you not. I was just hoping something else would happen, I don't know, that you would move again or something" he stared intently at me. "I know you have already figured this out, but we are already dead"

"All of you"

"I'd… say so, yes" A feeling of despair came over me, he couldn't possibly mean Luka right? Even though the pieces did fit. The idea terrified me, I forced myself to act collectedly though.

"Then… why are you still here? Won't you carry over to the other side or something?" They were aware of their condition, and they didn't seem to have any grudges or pending matters, so I did not understand why they would choose to stay in such a dire existence.

"We can do that but you see, our loyalty keeps us here"

The implications of his words hit me like cold water. "Luka…"

"We can sense her here, we have done so for years. We really like her, and we don't know why she isn't aware of the situation as well, we figured it out after a while of not being hungry, having to sleep or satisfy any need really. We don't know what keeps her, but we want to help her carry on as well, after all she is very precious to us too"

"I… don't understand" Even though I did, I was in denial, and while Leon knew this too he was kind enough to not call me out on it.

"Come, I'll show you"

He led me through some hallways and we reached the far end room my mother had intended me to use at first.

"Pull the wall clock's handle" he said. I did as he ordered and found that I could push the lock to a side, revealing a small passageway into god knew where. Interacting with objects raised a simple question in my aghast mind.

"Leon how can you move things? If you are not…if you…"

"It's a skill you learn after a long time being like this, it is incredibly challenging, living things react way more easily though" he said. "Come let's get in"

As we entered the place I could sense a smell of burnt objects inside the room we reached, I held my cellphone as a lamp to help me improve my vision in the dark, revealing several charred pieces of furniture and undistinguishable things.

"You see here is where we died, we had been meeting here to conduct searches of Miss Luka when she disappeared, to no avail. Eventually doctor Megurine went mad with pain, and one day he asked us if we did not miss Luka. We told him that it was our greatest wish to join her as soon as possible. '_Mine too' _he said, smiling sadly. And with that, he closed the door, threw oil around the room and burned us all to death dropping a single match"

His voice seemed to me unnaturally devoid of emotion right then, and as I was hearing the story I perceived something strange around the ashes and burnt furniture around the room. I screamed in horror as I saw what clearly were human bones, miraculously uncharred on a corner.

"Leon! Take me out of here, this is too horrible, I can't!" I wanted to grab his arm but found that my hand would only go through him, just like a ghost. I screamed, holding myself.

"Calm down! Calm down! I'm still here!" he said, consciously putting a hand on my shoulder so that I could feel it.

"No! You are not! None of you are, oh why can I even see you?" I was sobbing soon after saying this, and held him as he would materialize just enough for me to do so.

"I don't know, come, let's get you out of here"

I numbly let him guide me out, and soon after, the horror I had felt was a much more insignificant emotion compared to the sorrow I felt. Did this mean Luka was a ghostly existence as well?

* * *

**You know, I think I already have the whole story planned. The only thing is I tend to get stuck phrasing it... To what deity do I pray for eloquence? ;_;**


	7. Chapter 7

How is one to react to the loss of a loved one? For that is what I felt, a heartbreak so terrible it was mighty close to the ache produced by the departure of someone you cherish. It is overwhelming to think about death, to think you have fallen in love with an immaterial existence, a dreamlike entity, a dead girl. I felt like in my search for answers, I received the promise of grief.

I parted with Leon as soon as we closed the entrance to that accursed nightmare, and wordlessly left to my room. The charming view of the garden I had from my window did nothing but distress me, it was like a finger firmly placed against the gun's trigger, ready to shoot out my anguish, and if I didn't close the curtains I would lose the consolation awarded from the daze the shock had left me. Still, anesthetized as I felt, my mind wouldn't stop spinning, endless wails fighting their way through the numbness.

I sat on my bed, head down, like a French muguet, as doubts assaulted me unremittingly. These phantom servants seemed to be aware of their predicament, and it was sheer devotion what kept them grounded here. So what exactly kept my adored rose planted in this plane? Did she too know she was in an anomalous circumstance? If so, why would she choose to charm a frail earthling such as myself? Why even haunt the garden at all?

Surely she would not be so cruel as to bewilder a heart already as disabled as mine. Presences as beautiful as hers are meant for either benevolent or tragic purposes, shallow as it was to think that way, I knew it was the upmost truth, it anguished me that her purpose would be the latter though. This time, both heart and reason demanded answers, but it was the frame that held them what kept me from obtaining them. The emotions and information captured drained my energy, and exhaustion retained me from seeking my beloved. Protestingly, and yet obliged, my eyes closed, and I felt the loss of numb awareness as nightfall informed the loss of sunlight.

Daybreak brought a consciousness so authentic and distressing, I refrained from truly waking until the chirping of birds became intolerable. The legitimate acceptance of what I had witnessed settled under my perception of reality, bringing forth the urgency to behold my beloved's visage, to speak to her and ascertain the truth, have it enunciated from her very rose lips. Although I skipped brunch, I still had the sense to dress appropriately enough to meet her, so much as my psychological self would allow. Purposely avoiding contact with any of the staff, I headed directly towards our flowery arcadia in a completely automated state.

Was my intellect in the need of reasoning or my heart crying out for a disregard of facts and indulgence in ignorance, I did not know, yet I was aware that any of those would be attained by going there. I entered the herbal heaven with a careful gait, my existence a blank slate, ready to be painted by emotion and information. And as always, she was there, alluring and gentle, regarding my form lovingly. I became awfully aware of the bewitching effect she had over me, how easily maneuvered my beliefs were under her presence. Like a true heartbroken birdbrain, I brushed knowledge aside, and threw myself at her arms in a necessitous fashion.

"Dearest, is something wrong?" the concern in her voice was evident as she compassionately returned my desperate embrace. I placed the bridge of my nose against her shoulder, resting my forehead on her neck, eyes tightly closed, breathing dejectedly.

"I just…missed you so terribly" I replied, nourishing an unmindful rejection of last night's events.

She kindly lifted my face up and gazed attentively into my distressed and enthralled eyes, deeply analyzing the emotions hidden under cerulean mists. My gaze followed a triangle pattern formed by her eyes and lips, peering into endless enchanting oceans, staring at lush rosy petals, back into azure skies, back to her enticing mouth. How had I fallen so decidedly in love? I felt the need of a loving touch between our lips.

"I wished," she said, interrupting the likelihood of indulgence from my part "I could see what overwhelms you and eradicate its existence. When you hush your beautiful voice like this, I can't do anything but try to figure out what oppresses you, and it anguishes me that I'm unable of lifting that from your shoulders"

"Oh Luka, I need nothing but your presence to be serene, with you I feel at bliss, even in overbearing circumstances" I replied, fully exposing my adoration "besides… I am fine, life has always been good to me"

Even though worry still showed through her eyes, she adopted a gentler expression, understanding I was purposely avoiding to talk about what troubled me. She granted me a slight smile and smoothly kissed my forehead, holding me tightly afterwards as I rested my eyelashes against her neck, her pleasant fragrance mesmerizing me. Oh how I strained myself to be mindless.

"Still, I am curious." She said "I wonder what kind of world has the grace of having you breathe its air"

I looked up confusedly. "Dearest, if you are so curious, why don't you go out with me somewhere else? You know, outside this flowers"

"But Miku, for me, there is only this garden." She stated, and I quickly realized how much of an awful question I had made. "There is nothing beyond here, I have tried reaching its outer limits, but it just seems to be infinite"

Whether she was wistful or resentful about that, her tone did not reveal anything. But oh my heart could not take it! As much as it filled me with dread, I felt the need to tell Luka the truth. She seemed so unjustly unaware of everything, it would have been heartless to keep reality to myself. I did not want to lose her, but I loved her too much to let her be forever misguided. Because I loved her, I minutely revealed what I was aware of since the previous night. I held both her hands, and taking a deep painful breath, I disclosed the story I had learned.

All the horror from last night's events invaded me again, the rational part of me was grateful for expressing what it had known for so long already, and the emotional part that had so stubbornly denied everything declared dismay, but nothing compared to the panic and fear I felt when she shakily removed her hands from my light grasp. Appalled was an understatement to describe her state, it seemed like it all came back to her, and her face turned sorrowful.

After a long tortuous silence she finally faced me and spoke, her countenance a breaking mask of detachment. "You should not have to concern yourself with this Miku" she said.

Sensing the fake dispassion, I apprehensively extended my hand towards her own, hesitantly trying to form words. Her mask broke completely at the sight of my weakness, and she heartbrokenly stopped me.

"Ah, stay away." She shakily said. Unshed tears welling, sobs stifled, yet unable to cry, my face was nothing but the expression of someone drowning in her own sea of lamentation. "Miku… I love you, but I am nothing but a ghost!"

"N-no…" Was it normal to hear the sound of crashing glass inside my chest? "No! Don't say what I think you will"

"I love you, I love you so much my chest hurts just thinking about it, it's a pressure beneath my ribcage, right on my heart. You are my muse, my beautiful solace against this isolation, a light shining bright against long and dark periods of stillness… I want to hold you, to kiss you, press our hearts together and rest my tired head on your chest on occasion"

It was a love confession, one I would have accepted wholeheartedly and elatedly harmonize with. But a painful howl at the back of my mind knew this was not the promise of romance but the misfortune of farewell.

"Luka I-"

"But I don't want that for you, I don't want you to have me. I lack the ability of being with you constantly and affectionately every day. I am an unnatural existence wishing for romance, that's cruel isn't it? How very conceited have I become, I almost feel ashamed…" I wanted to say I'd love her nonetheless, that I'd die for her if needed be, but she would have none of my replies. "I know what you are thinking, oh I can see it in your dear eyes. I want nothing but wonderful things for you, I'd revel in your happiness and work hard for your smile, but I can't! I wish for someone worthy to take you and make your life perfect, I will not approve of anyone less than perfect… I want you to be happy, have a lover you deserve, the wealth you deserve, and your dreams fulfilled, but by God, please do not include me in them"

It was like being embraced by a rose, a beautiful, fragile, and romantic action, but her words were nothing but thorns relentlessly stabbing my heart. Tears cascaded down my cheeks as I realized the full meaning of her words, she was pushing me away.

"So I don't want you, I won't taint you, hurt you, love you, break you, love you…" her words hurt even more, knowing she was doing it for love, suffering for my sake.

I sobbed. "You are leaving me"

"I must move on, and so must you"

"I'll be alone again… I can't ask you to stay here for my own selfish sake, but without you…without you I'll die!"

"You won't," she closed the distance and lovingly held my face, she was crying too but a gentle smile graced her lips "I'll watch you, always and yet very inconsistently so. You captivate me, that's why I love you so, I wish to be able to relish in the sight of you forever, never tainting it with my own presence. For all that matters, I love you, very obsessively so… So please continue being you and advancing towards whichever your path is. My dear muse, my love."

It was a promise and a plea so solemn, I could do nothing but stare back into her heavenly eyes.

"Even if I die, remember to forget me, but not what I have said" she finished.

A logical sense in me reprimanded me for having ignored it for so long. The affliction I felt was the product of my own wilful delusion, the truth was that from our very first meeting, I had always known I was forcefully playing a fairytale. And this tale, like many others, although being perceived as an endearing one at first, held a real development far darker than the one formerly thought of.

With a last kiss to my forehead, an angel expelled me out of paradise.

I was not dense enough to not realize what her voice entreated. She had an infatuation as mighty as mine, and in her love she was imploring me to be happy, she wanted an orderly life for me, and I knew that she had acquired such a resolve regarding this, that there was nothing I could claim to escape her pushing me away. The misery she had felt was undoubtedly far greater than mine, and in her compassionate existence there was a trace of kindness to be considered. She was making my wellness her first concern. As much as I had craved to return her love in an accustomed way, I knew that the only manifestation of love plausible for me was to respect and consent to her wishes, even though it promised to break my soul into pieces.

I did not see my ghost servants anymore, so I assumed they had met an agreement to move on, even though it was to be admitted that for a long period I could not will myself to go out of my room, much less remove the drapery so mercifully blocking the view from my window. I held on to her promise, and I endeavored to find solace in that assurance, but as much as I wished to show her a winsome side of me, even forcing dejection out of character, I could be nothing but forlorn.

With my friends' highly valued aid, I ventured to experiment life's "normalcy". Persuading my mournful innermost self of a recognition that life was as she had said, a theatre. I employed my acting proficiency to its full extent. My heart was as hollow as my lungs, and I used that to laugh more vehemently, making humorism a somber alleviating remedy. After many weeks of grief and stupor, I took it upon myself to at the very least make my beloved smile, keenly believing she would be watching. Like this I had a remembrance of the logic behind my love for acting.

Indeed, being an actress was my dream job, it was certainly not a matter of fame or wealth, but a very appealing opportunity to impersonate any card from the deck I wished, taking the game as liability, one for which I would never be rewarded, but one that would anesthetize emotion at the very least, assuring my observers' gratification, lest the fun might find its finale, a circumstance I could not withstand.

It was in this state that I discovered a love for humanity, its flaws and virtues made it the beautiful thing it is. Finding my play flawless, I felt empathy towards the pitiful lives of those who knew not the meaning of human passion, even though some things I could not consider humane, as I felt disdain towards the creatures that committed such actions. And as much as it was a charade, I aimed to love my fellow misfortunate peers, regardless of their awareness of life's unending heartbreak or not.

Disappointingly enough, as I would accompany IA on several romantic rendezvous in the shape of double dates or casual flirting with strangers, I would find myself unable to present an agreeable representation of courtship, ultimately deciding my falsified inspiration would have to be reduced to frivolous altruism, disconnecting my heart from social interaction, as there was nothing that could fill its hollow. I exerted this pretense, all for the sake of my beloved's metaphysical contentment.

Yet the truth was irrefutable, for all that mattered, I felt alone.

I ignored time as its passing represented nothing anymore, if my love was ethereal, earthly matters were of no importance. Still, I was aware of it, for many events spoke of its progress, my mother had announced the anticipation of a brother for me and her pelvis had grown accordingly, the end of my school year was annunciated, and just like that, the next family reunion for December was approaching.

I developed a half love half hatred for roses, oh how they reminded me of her, their petals and thorns retelling my own suffering, yet I would often regard them adoringly by my front yard, for I dared not even glimpse at the back garden. During one of these occurrences, a queer man illustrated my state of mind quite perfectly.

One late afternoon, as I stared at the roses with a longing expression, I remarked the presence of a man I had not met before, lanky and impulsively handsome, yet with an air of dignified commitment, he treated the roses from the other side of the lawn with great care and gentleness. I observed him until he noticed my stare and rose form his bent position a bit agitatedly.

"Miss?" he asked, a soothing and low voice verbalizing attention.

"Good evening" I wearily replied.

"Good evening to you too. Oh, we have not met before have we?"

"No we have not, have you recently been employed here?"

"Ah no, not really. I take care of your garden miss." He was polite, yet not overly friendly like people nowadays tended to be, and I appreciated that.

"I see, you do your job well"

"Thank you miss"

A small thought crossed my mind, and as much as I despised the feeling, with the remembrance of my lost paradise I felt pain aggregate inside me. Before I could suffocate inside that hollow emotion, I forced myself to establish a somewhat cordial conversation.

"Oh, do you supervise all of our plants?" I asked.

"Most of them"

"Ah but that back garden-"

"I am not allowed in there" he said, interrupting the restriction I was about to establish.

"Ah…"

I must have had a forlorn expression, for he changed his countenance to a more sociable one.

"Miss, pardon my boldness, but I can't help but notice you are under some sort of adversity, perhaps an affair of the heart" he expressed.

"I think, an affair of the soul would be a more proper way of describing it." I said, oddly feeling the need to express my woes to this nameless gardener. "It is silly really, I try so hard to mask it all, to use deception against myself and accept it as a casualty of life. But no matter how hard I try, the emptiness never recedes."

"Ah yes, I know the feeling all too well," he said, compelling me to listen more attentively "young miss the thing is, you can't force deception against yourself. Denying a powerful love goes against the very nature of the human heart. I can't offer you consolation for your woes, but I must entreat you to accept them as a part of your life, fake composure will drive you into madness"

"How can you tell?" I resentfully whispered, his words were nothing but absolute truth.

"It happens to the best of us. And miss, you look like some who has abandoned all zest, no offense."

I found his remark rude, but accurate nonetheless. "How am I to yawn at the sky, to lift my head up, when there is no star illuminating my path?"

"I see. You are a sunflower who has lost its sun"

I sighed and stooping down to caress a flower's petals, I whispered back "No, I am a sunflower who has lost its rose"

* * *

**In case anyone was wondering, a "muguet" is a cute little white flower that looks and bends downwards, unlike most flowers that stay upright. The French give it to their significant others on May 1st, not for labor day though lol. They say something like"Je porte bonheur" if I recall correctly.**


	8. Chapter 8

Having already turned eighteen years old, it was expected of me to know what I wanted to do with my life, professionally speaking. Under the awareness that I had no palpable life to declare, I decided to choose, quite predictably, acting as a career, and I was to attend a prestigious arts academy overseas shortly after December. While I was certain that my deadened buoyancy had not passed unnoted, it was clear that it was easier to overlook it, for other's sake and for my own, and both my friends and family had the cordiality to commend me for any competence I would convey regarding intellectual, athletic, or cultural activities.

Oh my love, would you be watching? Were you pleased? Was it conceivable for me to express an adequate façade to concede the accomplishment of the ideal you pictured for me? I dearly hoped so, for if I was not to be happy, you at the very least should be, regardless of the cruel and whimsical echoes of emotion inside the hollow of my heart.

Detached from admissible teenage histrionic behavior, neglecting the nourishing of other inner emotions apart from a willful misery, I forced comfort in automated exertion for perfection, achievements used as wispy clouds against bitter rays from a melancholic artificial sunlight. Everyone was so proud, whether proud of me or proud of having the extravagance of calling themselves my acquaintance was unimportant. The thing is, thanks to a mechanized management, they fancied me one of genius. In reality, I was nothing but a pseudointellectual, wounded lover.

"Let yourself live more mindlessly." She had uttered those words so nonchalantly, yet so wisely. Even in the instance of a halfhearted acceptance of her absence, I held dear every oration I had received from her. But it was so hard, so utterly impossible, I was living mindlessly on the outside, still I was nothing but an array of hushed wails on the inside. It was to be expected that in this stifled grief, I would have presented delirious displays, and I most definitely did, infinitely replaying her soft tone in my mind, caressing rose petals as if they were her enchanting cheeks, and serenading my love's arias whenever I could not shoulder a passionate restraint, but I hushed the outer expression of such torment at the society of others.

Doubts and answers unimportant now, time passed by swiftly, I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, I was in the middle of yet another December family gathering. In the company of a recognizable congregation, I felt our house much smaller, but I dared not exit towards the only place without stifling air I knew, no, I would divert thoughts towards observation and coexistence instead. Sadly, endless chatter and children's antics proved incredibly annoying, as usual.

Recognizing my miserable mood perhaps, Yuki, a little cousin of mine, approached me and switched my attention to herself, lightly tugging at my dress.

"Yuki, hey" I said, pathetically attempting to mirror the childish smile she was giving me.

"Miku, help me make a pretty dance!" she cheerfully exclaimed.

"A pretty dance? Oh right, you are studying ballet aren't you? Hmm, sorry dearie I don't think there are any empty places to dance in right now"

"Auntie said I could use one of the empty bedrooms to dance, but I had to ask you to come with me"

"Ah, is that so? Alright then, let's go." Whatever to get away from this crowd.

I lead her to one of the rooms I knew to be most spacious, actively avoiding the one on the far side of the hallway of course. We entered the very modestly decorated room, for we did not use it, and I turned on the light.

"Knock yourself out" I said, sitting down on a simple double bed.

Musicless yet joyful, my little cousin nodded and started dancing youthfully, surpassing my expectations, for the child was actually really good for one her age. Amusedly, I observed her little ivory form perform charming plies, little battements, and other childlike, elegant pas and pirouettes.

"You are really good Yuki" I complimented her.

"Thank you! I'm doing a dance that will make someone happy"

She kept spiraling and skipping with a cheery charm, capably entertaining me, although I doubted I could really become happy.

"Really?" I asked "Who are you trying to make happy? Your mama?"

"No, well yes but, I saw this pretty lady by the garden and she looked really sad. I asked her why she was not smiling if she was so beautiful and she said that she had lost inspiration to smile. So I told her I would make a dance to make her smile again"

Twirl, twirl, twirl, my brain's engines rotated as she did, this pretty lady by the garden, it could only be one person. I stopped breathing for a moment, my heart haphazardly beating with hopefulness, it had to be her. I felt tortured by insecurity, could it possibly be Luka? It had to be, no one was more beautiful than her, doubts assaulted me, I did not understand why she was still here, but I knew that I wanted to see her, I needed to see her, desperately so.

"What do you think? Is it happy?" came my cousin's voice, interrupting my overwhelming emotions.

"H-huh?"

"The dance, I want to show it to the pretty lady!"

"Ah, uh yes. Yes. Let us go to the garden together now, shall we?" I said, I had no clue of what else Yuki had been doing after she had mentioned a pretty lady by the garden, but her dancing seemed charming enough before, so I figured it would do. It didn't matter, I had an overpowering urge to see Luka, and I was going to use Yuki as an excuse to go to the back garden right away if I had to.

Very much like the first time I visited Luka knowingly, I had no clue on what I was to say, but I knew I'd hold her and confess my love somehow, a heartbreak was presently killing me anyway, so I didn't mind loving a ghost girl. I needed her company so badly, and knowing she was sorrowful without me as well, I would never abandon her, even if she tried to force me to.

Walking as collectedly as I could, I followed my cousin's excited little steps, finding myself entering flower nirvana again for the first time in what seemed to be an eternity. Hearing her enthusiastic giggles fill the unnatural silence, so characteristic of that place, I chased Yuki as she started running behind a tree. I saw her do a little twirl and stand in front of someone with their back at me.

"I'm done! I brought a cousin with me if you don't mind, she seemed sad too" said Yuki, turning her gaze at me from behind her companion as I arrived at the same spot they were standing on.

A gentle flutter of pink as she turned her head, like a veil being lifted from an invaluable treasure, and there she was, my love, my perfect angel. The shift from absolute melancholy to full astonishment on her eyes exquisite.

"Ah..!" mouth slightly agape, Luka stared at me motionlessly as I returned her gaze with a loving one of my own.

"Well then, I'll show you!" declared Yuki, pulling us both out of our daze.

Unable to speak, Luka nodded and sat down underneath the tree. A small smile tugging at my lips, I sat next to her, letting our arms touch, warmth immediate as I did. I gently held her hand, resting my own on the grass, and looked towards a smiling Yuki.

"Inspire us!" I happily said, and the little ballerina started dancing.

Indulging in the presence of my love, I regarded the child's charming ballet, warmth finally finding its way back into my existence. Luka kept her gaze fixed on the performance, but I felt her impassiveness false as I noticed light squeezes on my hand and arm brushings she involuntarily gave me.

Every spin the little girl did winded my resolve, I was not going to let Luka push me away again. How endearing the ardent rise and fall of my love's chest was, Yuki had succeeded in making her happy dance indeed.

"How was it?" asked the ballerina after doing a final pirouette.

"Fantastic." Said Luka, before I could express how perfect the performance had been for me.

"Really? Are you happier now?" said Yuki, I almost giggled at her excitement over such a simple word.

"Of course, thank you darling" said my love, rising from her position to lightly pet my cousin's head. "You are really good"

"You think so? Am I good Miku?" asked the child.

"Yes, thanks to you I too feel truly happier now Yuki" I said, earnestly smiling. "You should go show your dance to your mom and the others" while I was, in a way, trying to get her to leave me and Luka alone, I honestly meant that suggestion too.

"I will!" She exclaimed, running off towards the reunion again.

I watched her form until she entered the mansion, and prepared to replenish my soul of Luka's presence.

"Your cousin is adorable, I can't say I see the similarities, but she definitely has artistic sensibility, very much like you do" she said, still gazing towards where Yuki had disappeared.

I silently turned to look at her, waiting for her to look back, yet she stood unmoving, without meeting my eyes as seconds passed. I had never liked the use of profanity, but in this moment I had to acknowledge the fantastically accurate emotion and intention the use of the phrase "Fuck it" had. For that is exactly what I thought while I pondered over the most polite attempt of conversation I could come up with, agreeable eccentricity of speech and action was highly unimportant right then and there as I was feeling.

I wordlessly approached her and as she turned to finally acknowledge my presence, I grabbed her cheeks and placed my lips on hers, keeping them immobile, but full of meaning nonetheless. I let three seconds pass and slightly separated from her, gazing adoringly into her bewildered ocean blues. My left hand descended from her cheek and met her right hand, letting our fingers intertwine delicately before leaning in for another loving contact of lips. Softly, hesitantly, she slowly corresponded my love, placing an arm around my waist and kissing me back gently.

Woes were unimportant, the world was unimportant, life itself did not matter, as I reveled in this intimate touch, both her and I knew that it was impossible to part now, we were fated as flowers and butterflies were, regardless of how ethereal or ephemeral the other was. This romance was to be carried out lest my wings be left battered, and her petals without blossoming.

The need for air forcing us to separate, we held loving gazes amidst applauding flowers and jolly stars.

"I love you" I said, letting all sentiment overflow through an almost whispered declaration.

Her affectionate eyes expressed consternation as soon as I said that "Miku you shou-"

"I won't." I interrupted her. "I know what you are going to say, but I will not have any of it. Luka can you not see? My heart is dying, I am becoming an automated instrument of existence, I need you to be alright, or else I'll stop being truly alive."

"That child had said you were doing okay…"

"I am not okay. Even if I say I am, no one would understand. I'm not okay and it is all my very own fault, I have gotten too good at lying." I almost let tears escape as I expressed this. "Sometimes I wished someone would understand, I wished they could see through me, see that I lied a way out of my heart, just to please the ones I think I love. See that I was having it forever sealed away, with laughing tears, my cracking heart."

She looked stricken hearing this, and she brought both her arms around me, holding me in a passionate embrace I needed, or perhaps one she herself needed. "Yet I would be nothing but something disgraceful for you dear…" she said.

"I don't care about you being a ghost, I need to love you and have you love me back. Do not push me away, there is no way I could fall for anyone else anyway. And I think," I paused, holding her gaze "you wish to love me and have me love you too."

We stood in silence for a moment, letting the words sink in, accepting how very real they were.

"Yes." She said "Yes, I need you too. But because I love you so much, I don't want to be conceited, what could you do, loving a dead girl? You'd be missing so much in life"

"Luka, I have gotten a lot in life, and nothing has ever made me more complete than being in love with you. I even considered dying for you"

"No, don't say that!"

"It's the truth. It is too late to try going back to my dull life again now, you have become the most precious thing to me, I don't think I'll ever be not miserable if I let you go now" I sighed and separately held each of her hands in my own. "Forgive me, I am so selfish, but I think you want the same, seeing as you are still here, in this plane"

She guiltily stared at me. "I could not find out how, I tried but there seems to be no way. Walking around leads me nowhere, thinking about it achieves nothing, I thought transcending was simple, but I didn't accomplish it."

"Ah…" I replied discouraged, I thought she had stayed behind for me.

"Oh no! Don't think wrong my love, I did not want to leave you alone, I wanted to transcend and become your guardian angel…"

I looked at her and involuntarily giggled. "How very silly dear" I smiled a little, knowing she was always thinking of me, just like I was thinking of her. "That is very strange, you not being able to carry on… but Luka you need not become anything for my sake, just let me love you and I'll be okay"

She stared deep into my eyes, trying to find a trace of doubt, but she found none. She knew I was earnest, she knew it was unavoidable, we just had to accept it as it was. She sighed in recognition of this truth and changed her expression to a defeated smile. Lifting our intertwined hands to place mine around her neck, she placed her arms around my waist and kissed me again, conveying her devotion towards me as I returned the touch with adoring emotion of my own.

Finally reveling in the consent of our love, I let my passion flow with intensity, immersing in the feeling of our kiss, our embrace, and our light caresses. We indulged in each other's existence for never-ending hours, healing the wounds a long time separation had inflicted upon our hearts.

I was back in heaven, eager to be conscious again, committed to the nurturing of this love. We kissed and held each other as our hearts demanded, as it was only natural for us to do so. And I recognized a steadfast determination to never let her go.

* * *

**My dearest readers I just want to reiterate how much I appreciate your comments and silent reading too, it's wonderful motivation. Really sorry this chapter is so short, but as much as I hate to admit it, right now I have a bit of a heartbreak myself, dumb issues really. Midterms are this week as well, so I might not update soon. I do promise to try my best though. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't hate me too much for taking so long to update so little ;_;**

**Oh, a happy event, a friend bought two coton de tulear puppies, and I was allowed to play with them. They were so fluffy I couldn't help but HNNNNGGGG at their adorableness, I swear they look just like stuffed animals. I believe this is the first time I have enjoyed having my hair munched on by little creatures (They have no teeth yet, so no harm was done :3 ). Anyway, I just wanted to say puppies are good for happiness, we should all love them, kittens too, kittens are awesome. **


	9. Chapter 9

I was finally happy again, but as much as I had wanted to stay with my darling forever, I understood I had to attend to mundane life too, and we parted before midnight, having knowledge of an unspoken agreement for me to come back as soon as I could.

Like this, I started visiting her again, even though she would half-heartedly entreat me not to. As I was having the enjoyment of holidays, I spent most of my time with her, letting our romance grow and fill our souls. It was befuddling why she wouldn't be able to carry on to another life, and part of me wished to find answers to that. That, and how could I manage to be with her, even in the afterlife.

Yet regardless of such unnecessary present threats, our love was the fairytale I had always unknowingly needed. Just like I felt helplessly devoted to her, she was impossibly loving towards me, sweet and caring, even under the influence of melancholy. December's cold meant nothing in the warm embrace of my beloved, and even if the weather would become disagreeable, Luka always found a way to melt my heart.

It so happened that one particularly chilly evening, she lovingly made proof of this warmth by carrying out tender actions, which would have effortlessly thawed the most frozen of substances. I had stubbornly resolved to dress as prettily as I could for her, which often meant excusing myself from the use of scarfs and hats, undeniably getting cold with ease. During that night, I had been singing one of my most recent love arias for her, and while at first my shuddering could have been mistaken for excitement, she quickly took notice of how I was becoming displeased by the sharp cold air.

Comfortably holding my waist from behind my back, she pulled me close to her and spoke calmly into my ear. "You are cold," she said "would this help you regain some warmth?"

"Y-yes" I answered, flushing from the sudden embrace, or perhaps the cold, perhaps both. I sighed and nuzzled my head below her jawbone "Yes, I do feel better."

"You are still shivering though" she murmured as she held me even tighter. "I have an idea, let your hair down."

"Alright…" Understanding my hair would probably act as a natural scarf I decided to comply. Usually I'd keep my hair tied into twin tails, buns, braids, or whatever the outfit I would wear merited, mostly due to it being incredibly long, consequently being hard to handle. This time I had tried braiding some of my bangs and tying my hair into a simple ponytail, hairstyle I quickly undid as Luka requested me to.

She carefully helped me spread it to fall around the back and sides of my head, adequately providing a little warmness to my neck and shoulders.

"Better?" she asked, lightly stroking strands of my hair.

"Yeah, somewhat." I said, although not entirely satisfied by the warmth produced.

"Hmm, well then, I'd like to try something" she said, arranging my hair closer to my neck.

I caressed one of her arms mildly and quietly nodded in consent, my heart speeding up as I perceived her approaching my neck with her lips, as if to kiss it. As I closed my eyes in anticipation, I felt a light pressure over one side of my still hair-covered neck, and hot air flowed through the strands, effectively warming me up. Breathing out in delight, I felt Luka move to the other side of my neck, heard her breath in deeply, and minutely exhale over my hair and neck again, the cold leaving my body almost right away.

I sighed pleased and opened up my eyes, finding my love gazing at me with her chin placed over one of my shoulders, her head tilted playfully, providing a charming angle of her ethereal beauty. "Even better?" She asked, dedicating a lighthearted smile to me.

"Much better" I softly said, gently stroking the arms she had around my waist. To this, she smiled even more contentedly and proceeded to repeat what she had just done. After this blissful event, I separated slightly from her and turned around in her embrace so I could face her and hold her. "Thank you" I whispered, lightly pressing my forehead against hers.

"Ah." She said, looking unusually bashful. But before I could ask anything, she unexpectedly pushed me down onto the flower covered ground, the fall inexplicably painless. "My goodness, you are so beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"H-huh?" I eloquently uttered, still dumbfounded by her sudden action.

"My love, you look like an angel, in this white dress, with your hair down, I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it. If you could only see how alluring you look like this, surrounded by flowers" she said, smiling enchantingly.

Glad to see her in such a playful state, I giggled a little and held her, entwining my hands' fingers behind her neck. "The only angel I see here is you dearest," I said "only you can warm me up so charmingly."

"I'm glad it worked" she said, speaking a bit more calmly than before.

"Although for a moment, I was nervous" I laughed a little.

She confusedly tilted her head to a side a little and eyed me curiously. "Why is that, dear?" she asked.

"Oh, for a second I thought you were going to…" I trailed off, suddenly becoming too coy to say it.

"Going to?"

"To…kiss…"

"Hmm?" she approached my face and made a listening expression.

"I thought you were going to…to kiss my neck" I said, undoubtedly going a few shades of red darker, part of me annoyed at my helpless skittishness.

"Oh… would you have disliked that?" she asked, looking slightly troubled.

"No, I think I would have liked it" I boldly said, pushing nervousness aside, still blushing nevertheless.

She stared into my eyes and carefully asked "would you like me to do it?"

"…yes please" I almost inaudibly admitted. Why was I getting so flustered? It was not as if I had never had one of these kisses before, yet the thought of having Luka do it, made me uncontrollably discomposed.

Sensing my mood, she gently stroked one of my cheeks with her hand, and murmured a small romantic "okay". Firstly kissing my other cheek lightly, she moved some hair away from the same side of my neck, and as soft as the flutter of butterfly wings she placed a small kiss on my skin, making me let out a ragged breath I had been containing, indulging in the sensation of that small touch. She slowly held one of my hands with one of her own, and keeping the other hand resting on the grass to support her weight, she kissed my neck again, this time a little more longingly, sending small jolts of pleasant electricity through my nerves.

I held her hand tighter as she did so, on both sides of my neck, and brought my other hand to the back of her head, burying it into her pink locks as she looked up into my eyes again, earning an eager kiss from my lips to hers.

Both breathing slightly heavily as we parted, I told her "I love you" with all the earnest passion my soul harbored.

"I love you too" she said, slowly closing her eyes as she approached my lips again, for us to kiss until the stars stopped shining in the same position in the sky.

Moments like this one, made me cherish her even more, and I very willingly let myself get lost into the sensations, thoughts, and emotions provoked. My joy was palpable, and openly visible as I would smile more brightly during a cheery "good morning" and "how fare you" when greeting other people. But there was annoyingly ever-present, at the back of my mind, a consistently nagging thought, refusing to forsake logic and neglect reasonable observation again.

The need for answers was so overpowering, I found myself unable to refrain from seeking them, fully conscious, the enraptured part of me always protesting against it, moving half-heartedly but with unavoidable resolve nonetheless. There was a sense of justice and rationality that made me aware of how unfair the situation was for my darling, and how much I forced a thin blindfold, with badly stitched holes, over my eyes for the sake of selfishness. Martyrdom was perhaps contagious, for after several loving encounters, just like Luka had decided to relieve me from unearthly woes before, I now felt the need to free my ghostly prisoner from shackles put there by me, thinly veiled as love. And love was truly what I now felt for her, not an immense infatuation anymore, not the promise of romantic fantasy, but true love, and as I discovered it to be more real of an emotion, I understood how much more important her freedom was, opposed to the pretense of a perfect romance, for as time would pass, it would unavoidably die the moment I would, most possibly before that, as I would age and move away, in the "real world".

She had indeed loved me before I had, she had understood this back then and acted upon it, thinking firstly of me. And now she was sacrificing her own very-long-term happiness for a comparatively very-short-lived one of mine, as I would stubbornly demand romance. But now I would not go away and let go, I would not escape or blindfold myself, no, I would hold her hand until I could free her myself, and I knew just how to start looking into the matter of her liberation.

Crushing answers had come before in the form of words uttered by a ghost servant, and even if I was now aware of them probably avoiding me, I knew Luka's loyal friends, which I somehow did consider my own as well, were still around. And so, I decided to start my search with their help, as I knew they were the ones most capable and interested in the subject of freedom from supernatural existence.

As both my family and I were enjoying holidays, I did not have the luxury of running around the house yelling my friends' names, unless I wanted to convince my parents of admitting me into a mental-health institution. So one night, as the clock marked two in the morning, I rose from bed, still fully clothed, and headed to search for them. They say spectral entities roam the world more intensely around early hours, right after midnight, and I found myself quietly chuckling at the hilarity of me conducting this search right as the saying would advise me to, but truth is, I wanted to catch at least one of them off-guard, as well as I needed to avoid being heard speaking to thin air, the way it would look to the eyes and ears of others.

It was an ironically easy guess, but I did try to search the kitchen first, and lo and behold, there was Avanna staring at me like a deer caught in headlights the moment I opened the door.

"I have finally found you!" I hushed excitedly, impulsively moving close to her, opening my arms for a friendly hug, Avanna stiffening up in response, reminding me that while we were not exactly fighting, our situation was probably not one to be called on good terms, unless freaking out and technically running away from Leon had counted as an agreeable farewell. "Ah sorry, I was just happy to see you" I said, awkwardly dropping my arms to the sides.

It was obvious that Leon had told her about the charred room's incident, for she looked quite dumbfounded at my friendliness. "…Miku?" she carefully asked, eyeing me strangely, possibly expecting me to break down and cry at the sight of a being I now knew to be preternatural.

"Right, I suppose Leon told you everything… Is he around? Perhaps I owe him an apology" I said, trying to sound as cordial as possible.

She noticed my effort and quickly understood I had long stopped being scared, having far more interesting and relevant ideas and inquiries to present in lieu of fear.

"…He was annoying me, yes again, don't laugh," she said, a small smile betraying her "so I told him to scram for a while, lest I disfigure his face… not that something like that would be really possible, as you already know…"

"Yes, I guess it wouldn't be…" I awkwardly replied. "But you know, I think he likes you"

She let out a small huff and grinned. "You know, I think so too."

We grinned together in silence, getting comfortable with each other's presence again.

"So…" I said.

"So" she now calmly stared at me.

"It is quite obvious now but, as you can see, I have come to accept it, what you all are…"

"And Luka?"

"That's…what I wanted to talk about."

She blinked twice and nodded, beckoning me to continue. I proceeded to tell her about the days from the moment I had found out the truth, up until the point where I realized I needed to free Luka from her flowery cage, and as I did so, I cared not to omit my undying love for her.

Amusedly unruffled at the awareness of our relationship, she showed concern over the limits of Luka's situation instead. "How…strange, if it is alright to use that term, even in our circumstances" she said, frowning in concentration, trying to make sense of the knowledge I had just shared.

"Yes, but I have resolved to help her, it matters not what I need to do" I said. "That's why I have been searching for you, I think you guys can help me figure something out."

"Ah I see… but to tell you the truth, nothing comes to mind as to why this is happening" she apologetically admitted.

I frowned and roamed my mind for ideas. "Perhaps you could come see Luka with me and think of something" I replied.

"Is that possible?" she asked, for some reason incredulous.

"Yes, why wouldn't it be?" I asked, perplexed at her reaction.

"I don't know, it's just that… somehow, there is something about the garden that compels me not to go inside, not just me, all of us" she explained.

"Now that is quite odd. I have never had any trouble entering and exiting it," I said "just come with me, we will go inside together."

"I… alright, anything to help a friend" she smiled and motioned for me to lead the way.

As we exited the kitchen and approached the entrance to the garden, Avanna looked troubled and stared at the ground untrustingly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't know, I can't seem to move my feet any closer" she answered, unmoving no matter how much she strained herself to take a step.

An idea occurred to me, Luka had escaped from her life in this garden, she had prayed to be away from what she was enduring, and Avanna in some way or the other, constituted a part of that past. I knew it was unfair to force my will, but determination came over me and I pulled Avanna's hand.

"Come with me." I said, bringing her inside with me, surprisingly without any real effort.

She looked startled as we walked inside, but relaxed and let out an amazed breath at the beauty of the flowers around us. "Something is undeniably magical about this place Miku, it is beautiful, in a very unnatural yet pleasant way" she expressed.

I pondered on what she said and giving a second look to the place I had to concur, yet deciphering the science behind its magic was not one of my priorities, for I had much more important matters to look into.

"Come, we should greet Luka" I said, earning a nervous "yes" from Avanna.

Nervousness did build up inside me as we walked, but just like every time, I knew where to go to find my beloved, I knew when and where I would hear her voice and see her face, and so, we moved up until a point where I could descry her beautiful figure, peacefully sitting against a tree, eyes closed in relaxation. It had to be the first time when I could see her sleeping form, and breath caught in my throat as I again had proof of her undeniable grace.

Avanna's steps pulling me out of my reverie I mustered up courage and kneeling down beside Luka, I gently kissed her cheek, pressing her shoulder with delicacy to wake her up. I saw her eyelids stir and slowly move up to reveal the gorgeous sapphire eyes I loved so much. Still somewhat drowsy, she smiled with her lips closed as she meet my gaze, then changed her expression to a confused one as she found me back inside flower arcadia so soon and at an uneven hour.

She immediately woke up and made a surprised face as she heard Avanna emotionally whisper from behind me "Miss Luka!"

Turning her gaze from me to her friend, her mouth stood agape upon recognizing her. She grabbed my arm and looked questioningly at me, trying to assess the situation. Quickly attempting to regain composure, she stood from her resting spot and approached Avanna, realizing she was there and very real, as real as their phantasmal existence would allow both of them to be.

"Avanna?" she asked, her friend nodding in response. "Oh Avanna my friend!" she exclaimed smiling cheerfully, moving to hug her long time missed friend.

"Oh miss Luka it is you, it truly is you! We had been searching for your soul for so long, sensing your presence but never finding it. I am so glad to see you again" said Avanna hugging her tightly.

I silently watched their exchange, my heart warming up at the sight of the joy both of them felt and expressed upon meeting the other again after such a long time. I felt not the tiniest bit of jealousy as they would talk and laugh about events missed by the other, but I felt uneasy at the expectance of the approaching discussion of the matter I had decided to solve. Still, not wanting to ruin their reunion I just gulped my woe as silently as I could and allowed them to enjoy the moment for a while longer. Sitting down just where Luka had been, I rested my head against the tree and watched them, basking in the radiance my dearest had when donning a truthful cheer.

They eventually grew silent and serious though, and as Luka turned around to see me, again portraying confusion, I knew the time to sweep away my selfishness had come. I nodded, and motioned for them to sit close to me, for I did not think to be standing a comfortable position, or a safe one for that matter, considering what we were about to deliberate.

"My love," I said, holding Luka's hands and staring at her intently. "I have decided to help you move on, now that I truly understand what it is to love you, now that I can see the unfairness of my previous demands, I will endeavor to accomplish your freedom. But I recognize I am incapable of finding the way to break your chains on my own, that's why I have brought Avanna with me, so that she can help us free your soul."

A thousand questions flashed through her face, doubts I could easily read and understand, to which I answered giving her the most earnest smile I could, letting her know I now understood the reality of our situation, I now loved her enough to let her go, so that I could later on meet her again on the other side, away from earthly limitations forced upon us.

"I don't know how we'll achieve it, but I promise you we will, and I will find you when my soul is free too" I said, wholeheartedly.

She seemed happy, but betrayed by worry, as ever, she was worried about me, and grabbing my hands tighter she said "But love, if we do, we will be apart for a while."

"It will be just a quick moment for you" I replied.

"But it will be a long time for you."

"When we meet again, it will have been just a moment for me too."

She seemed to accept this, but kept concern inside her heart nonetheless, fortunately she was not like me, and she understood I had made up my mind. Looking at her expression though, I felt compelled to reassure her further.

"I will be okay," I said "this is the way it should be, and I'll learn to live and love that truth, do not worry about me, I wish only to make up to you for all this time I've kept you shackled, to let you feel my love, and become my guardian angel as you promised to"

"Miku, I have always had free will, and I assure you I have never once felt imprisoned by you, if anything, you are the best I have ever had in this world, do not concern yourself with that, you are absolutely guiltless here" she solemnly declared.

"Still, I wish to help you. Will you let me? Please?" I pleaded.

She searched for a trace of doubt in me, but read nothing but resolve on my expression, and taking a deep breath, she caressed my hands and replied "Yes, thank you. I love you."

"I love you too." I answered, then turned to Avanna. "So Avanna, now that you have come here, and we all know what we are trying to achieve, do you have any ideas as to why Luka has not been able to transcend?"

She was extremely serious as she answered "Yes… it is so strange and unexpected though."

Both Luka and I stared attentively, urging her to continue.

"You see, I can sense it, just like I can sense everyone, I know who and what someone is. I know Leon when I sense him, I know you Miku when I sense you…and I know Miss Luka when I sense her, so now I get it."

"Avanna please, I don't mean to be rude, but I implore you, get to the point" I begged, anxiously waiting for her conclusion.

She looked troubled, but more than that, incredibly confused. "The thing is, I don't know why, but just like Miku… Miss Luka, you are not dead."

* * *

**...Hi ._. Really sorry for taking so long to update this time, don't kill me please, or at least let me finish the story first x(**

**Excuses are really just that, excuses, so I will not rant about why I took so long, I just hope you enjoyed this chapter, tried to make it slightly longer than the others but had to cut it there, so as to keep the rhythm on the next chapter. Anyway, what do you think? Do you like this development? Do you hate it? Hopefully not lol.**

**Oh, as you can see in this chapter, the garden has some restrictions as to who can enter and exit it, now with this, I'm pretty sure it is much easier to figure out, not that it is terribly relevant but, whoever deciphers who the gardener on chapter 7 was, gets an imaginary kitten and a virtual hug!**

**Well then, thanks to all of you guys reading/following this, and special thanks to those who have reviewed and faved it, I love you all, see you soon friends.**


End file.
